Suzanne Wood

Think, Suzanne

2011-02-04T22:50:00.000-08:00

Ok, so sometimes I have realizations that really get me. I ask myself questions like: Why didn't you think about that before you said something? Why didn't you think about how that might affect you and those around you? Why are you doing this to yourself?

The reality is...I just need to think. Think before I act...think before I say things. It would really save me a lot of trouble in the end. My new goal...is to think.

On another note...everything else except for the thinking thing is going pretty well. I've started having very mixed feelings about what to do next year and where to go. By that I mean that the past week or so I've felt that it is a very strong possibility that I stay here and apply for teaching jobs in Cedar. If it's where I need to be...then in Cedar I shall stay.

I have to say that I am grateful for the blessings in my life. I know that I am loved and well taken care of. I don't deserve all the things that are provided for me at very little effort on my part. I will continually be humbled by my weaknesses...and reminded that "I know in whom I have trusted." Definitely a little rambling tonight...but the truth none the less.

Life is Hard...

2011-01-26T16:38:00.000-08:00

So...I had great plans to post all about my exciting and option filled future...all the Grad School Applications I'm filling out...the teaching positions that I'm looking into, all the excitement in my social life...and all the other wonderful things happening in my life...

WELL...it turns out that even for someone so seemlingly eternally optimistic as myself...that life is hard. I don't know what the future holds. I actually have no idea. I am looking into all my options...but don't feel particularly drawn to any one thing. It's really frustrating. So for today...just for this little while I am going to be a pessimist. I am going to say that everything is not ok. I'm living in limbo right now...and it's ok. I will say that I am looking forward to having some direction...sometime in the future. And...I will say that I do know that something will work out. I know there is a plan for me.

But for today...I feel like this:

New Beginnings

2011-01-05T14:05:00.000-08:00

So I am pretty sure most of you think I have fallen off the face of the earth. In all reality...I have been pretty much MIA for the last couple months from the blogging world. I am going to try and stay a little more on top of things. I had a great holiday season and am looking forward to a new year. I have lots of plans and resolutions for 2011.

Stay tuned for some updates. :)

Welcome Home Nanny!

2010-10-21T15:56:00.000-07:00

It's about time I get on here and do some bloggin'! I have to first of all thank my sisters Stephanie and Melissa for taking care of posting on my blog during my mission. They did an AWESOME job! I love you both SO much! Thanks for all you did!

Next, I have to say that I am having a great time being back at home. Don't get me wrong...I miss the mission an incredible amount...but spending time with the fam. has been amazing and I am glad to be home and have the opportunity to experience some other wonderful things as well.

Since I've been home, I've been substitute teaching quite a bit, and I'm deciding right now where to apply to Graduate School. We'll see if I get in a Grad School Program...or if I teach school next year...or teach school while doing a Masters Degree. I have lots of options and I am looking forward to seeing what the Lord has in store for me next in my life. I know that there is a lot to figure out...but I look forward to all of my upcoming decisions with faith and confidence. :) Not to mention...that someday...I don't mean tomorrow...but someday I'd like to get married and have a family. (I'll play that hand when it's dealt to me! ;))

Otherwise, everything is going well for me. I am happy! I'm including some pics. of the airport scene when I got into the Las Vegas Airport. Bry, Meliss and the kiddos stayed up extra late to see me when I arrived. It was SO good to see them. Taylor and Jenny also come...which was amazing!

Last Email! (Wed., Sept. 29)

2010-09-30T14:47:00.000-07:00

Dear Family and Friends,

I can't believe this is my last email to all of you. I have had a crazy, wonderful...full of up and downs kind of week. It is bitter sweet to be completing the mission and going to be heading home next weekend. I know that I have served the Lord to the best of my ability and that I would not trade this 18 months for anything in the world. I have learned so much, and my testimony of the gospel of Jesus Christ has truly become stronger. I know that I could not have done the work without the support from all of you...nor without constant help from Heavenly Father.

I can update you on details from the last few days...when I see you...or talk to you on the phone...but I will leave you with one story.

Last Saturday, we were doing finding work in Lund with the Zone Leaders and all of our bags got stolen out of the car. It was totally devastating! we talked to the Police, and then had a very long night...no longer having our cell phone, or keys to our apt. We were able to get home at about 11:30pm and get to bed. On Sunday, I gave a talk in Sacrament Meeting. I had planned to talk about all the things I have learned on my mission. I had prepared what I felt like would be uplifting to the ward. Well, as I got ready on Sunday morning, some other thoughts came into my mind that I felt I needed to share.

Basically, the talk I gave was an opportunity for me to bear my testimony of the things that we can't lose if we take care of ourselves spiritually. I lost everything "valuable" to me in a material way on Saturday...but those things that nobody can take from me, are my faith in the Savior Jesus Christ, or my testimony of His gospel and how it can bless our lives. It was an incredible blessing for me to talk in church and to have the opportunity to bear my testimony of these things.

I hope all of you have a wonderful week. Mom, Dad, Grandma and Grandpa Morris...I'll see you on Saturday!!!! To the rest of you, I will see...or talk to you very soon. I know this is the Lord's work and I am so grateful for the chance I have had to serve!

Much Love,

Sister Suzanne Wood

Photos and a note from Sister Pettersson in Sweden

2010-09-21T07:28:00.000-07:00

Hi!

I am enclosing a few photos I took last Wednesday (September 8th) when you daughter and her companion came to our house for lunch.

In some of the photos my two sons are also present. Robert the youngest came home from his mission last Friday (London south mission) and his older brother Fredrik came home a year ago from the Manchester mission.

We came to the conclusion that soon the five of us will have served our Lord for a total of 8years. How wonderful!

Thank for letting us have your wonderful daughter here in Sweden.

All the best to your family.
Sister Pettersson

Lots of New Pics!

2010-09-20T06:29:00.000-07:00

Sister Sumner and Me at Zone Conference...in August.

The Zone at Conference....last week.

Sister Sumner and Me...at a bus stop.

Elder Carlisle, Elder Bloomfield and Me at our bowling Zone Activity

The entire Malmö Zone...we have a great time together!!!

Sister Sumner and Me in Södra Sandby.

The Copenhagen Temple

All of us in front of the temple

Us and the Zone Leaders in front of the temple sign

The Christus Statue in Copenhagen that all of the statues in the church are a replica of.

Sis. Sumner and Me in front of the Christus Statue.

Denzil's baptism with Sister Sumner and Fredrik Pettersson.

1 1/2 weeks to go!!

2010-09-20T06:26:00.000-07:00

Dear Family and Friends,

I had a fantastic week last week! We worked hard, and had a couple of really cool experiences. I will share just a couple of them with you. :)

First of all, I had my last conference last Thursday. Our "Sharpening" conferences have become more like a 2nd Zone Conference every transfer. The conference was very good and motivating. One thing I had the opportunity to do was bear my testimony to the Zone. I am the only finishing missionary in the Zone...so I got plenty of time to say whatever I felt like saying. I'm sure you can all guess that I started out by shedding a few tears...and I bore my testimony of the gospel, and was able to share a couple of the things that I have learned on my mission. It was a wonderful opportunity, but was very difficult for me. I continue to bear a witness of the things I know are true every day...and I am so grateful for my testimony of the gospel. I know it is the thing that gives me the most strength in my trials. Our testimonies grow as we exercise faith in the Lord and try His promises. I have seen that many times on my mission and I know it's true.

We also had the opportunity to go to Copenhagen last Friday to the temple there. It was a wonderful experience. We went with the Zone Leaders and some of the other missionaries from our Zone. The session was wonderful and I am SO grateful I was able to attend the temple there before returning home.

Lastly, we had Stake Conference on Saturday evening and Sunday morning. Our investigator Anna came on Sat. and Sun. I had the wonderful opportunity to sing at the session on Saturday night...which was an incredible blessing and opportunity for me. I sang "Be Still, My Soul" with a violin, cello and piano. The Spirit was very strong during the meeting and I was so glad that I could be a part of it. As people came and thanked me after the meeting, all I could say was, "Tack" Va glad jag bli! (Rough translation: "Thank you! What pleased me be!")

I am really looking forward to this week. Sis. Sumner and I have some great goals and I am going to make this last week one of the best of my mission. I'm ending with a bang! I know that I can still make a difference with the days I have left. I am so grateful for my opportunity to serve. I know that church is true. I know that it brings us more joy than we can even begin to comprehend. I hope you all have a wonderful week!

Love,

Sister Suzanne Wood

Wonderful Work! (Monday, Sept. 13)

2010-09-16T12:04:00.000-07:00

Dear Family and Friends,

It's amazing...there has been so much that has continued to happen during the course of my mission, and I have told all of you about the ins and outs of missionary work here in Sweden. I feel as though there isn't anything that I can say...that you all haven't heard. However, I continue to teach the wonderful children of our Heavenly Father and I am honored to have a little bit of time left to help as many as possible.

I don't have many thoughts this week. But, one thing I would like to say is that I know that conversion takes place through the Spirit of our Heavenly Father. I have seen a miraculous change in our friend Anna who we have been teaching the gospel and she has taken it upon herself to make changes in her life to live in accordance with the commandments of God. It has been amazing. Her heart has changed, and with her change of heart has started to take place a change in her behavior and attitude.

I am just incredibly grateful for the blessing it has been for me to help some of God's children begin the path back to Him. I love the gospel. I love the Lord. I am grateful to be a part it. Even though I have not seen all of the fruits of the labor I have performed, I know that the Lord is pleased with us when we serve Him.

I hope all of you are well. I hope this week goes well, and I hope that you all continue to live in accordance with the gospel. It will bless your lives!

Much Love,

Sister Suzanne Wood

Hey Family! (Monday, Sept. 6)

2010-09-09T15:58:00.000-07:00

Dear Family,

I am so grateful for this last week we have had in Lund. It has been a wonderful week! I don't have a whole lot of time to email today, so I will keep this email short, but I wanted to share a couple of our success stories from last week.

A couple of weeks ago, we were walking to the bus station from the church, and we met three Chinese students at the bus stop. We started chatting with them and as we got on the bus...Lynch (one of the guys we met) came and sat by us. We started talking about Chinese food and he told us we could come over and eat dinner with him and his friends sometime. We called him a few days later and set up an appt. to go and eat a meal with him. Well, last Friday we went to the student housing where Lynch lives, and we ate a wonderful Chinese dinner with Lynch and 5 of his friends. As we were visiting with them, we were able to talk to them about Heavenly Father and the Savior. We got all 6 of their phone numbers and they all said they would like to get together sometime and talk some more about God. AWESOME!!! It was a wonderful experience for us. Not to mention it was really fun to get to know them and share the gospel with them.

We were also able to go to a baptism in Malmö last saturday. It was a man named Ali from Iran and he is one of the most prepared people I have ever met on the mission. He knew exactly what kind of commitment he was making to God when he was baptized. One thing that was really awesome about the baptism is that Anna (our amazing, wonderful, golden investigator) was able to come to the baptism with one of the members of our ward. It was perfect! She had a wonderful experience at the baptism and came to church yesterday. We are going to invite her to be baptized this week. We really feel strongly that she is prepared for the gospel. :)

Other than that, we have been doing a lot of finding, visiting our members, and teaching some new investigators. There is so much I'm grateful for as I reflect on my time as a missionary. I have been a little more emotional the last few days as I have born my testimony to the investigators of the truthfulness of the gospel. I know that it's because I receive such a strong witness from the Spirit that what I am teaching is true. Every time I teach about Joseph Smith's vision in the Sacred Grove, I am so touched by the Spirit that I am moved to tears. I know that the gospel of Jesus Christ was restored through Joseph Smith. I know that this is the Lord's church on the earth and that as we live the principles of the gospel, we are blessed.

I am continuing to learn every day from the scriptures. They give me the spiritual boost I need to face every new day and I am grateful for the opportunity I have to study the words of the prophets. I am grateful for all of you...for your support and love. Thank you! I hope you all have a wonderful week. I am looking forward to the adventures I will have this week in Lund. :) Take care!

Love,
Sister Suzanne Wood

Four New Pics

2010-09-09T15:53:00.000-07:00

A beautiful building on Lund University Campus

Elder Humphries, Elder Winegar and Elder Bloomfield on P-Day

Dom Kyrkan in Lund...super ominous...and huge!!

Sister Sumner and me with Nasrin and her husband who will be getting baptized in Stockholm. :)

It's fall! (Monday, August 30)

2010-09-09T15:52:00.001-07:00

Kära Familj och Vänner,

It has been a little chilly this week here in Lund. The fall winds are starting to blow...and I'm pulling out the long sleeve shirts...and next.....tights!!! I am so grateful for the opportunity I have had to serve the Lord this last week. We have had challenges, we have had wonderful times, and through everything, I have felt the Spirit testify to me on a regular basis that this work is the work of the Lord Jesus Christ, and that He is continually supporting me to find those who are searching for Him. Searching for the truth.

I am doing well in every aspect of me....my health is good...we are running every day...my Spirit is strong...and I know that as I put forth every bit of effort that I have...that I will continue to make a difference in people's lives.

During the week, both of our baptismal dates moved to different areas of Sweden. In one way it was kind of sad for us, because we would love to continue teaching them...and see them be baptized. On the other hand, I know that it doesn't matter one bit where they are baptized, as long as they are willing to make that covenant with the Lord. I'm grateful that I could be a part of their conversion process.

We had two wonderful teaches with our investigator Anna this week. She invited us to eat dinner with her, and as we shared our message about God's Love with her, we were all touched greatly by the Spirit and as it says in D&C...that we rejoiced together. :) She is so prepared. She has admitted herself that she is a skeptical person...and we can see that she has some bumps in the road that she will need to overcome. However, she has also expressed feelings of knowing that the words that the Prophet spoke last conference are true, and that all the other talks that she has read are true. So, she is definitely making progress. I know that she will make the decision to be baptized, and hope to be a part of that wonderful experience with her.

We have not had many other teaches with investigators this last week, except that we were able to go yesterday to the home of one of the member families in our ward. They have 3 foster kids living with them that are all interested in the gospel. We were able to teach them, and help them understand Joseph Smith's experience, and what that can mean for each of us. They are wonderful kids and we are looking forward to teaching them, and helping them prepare to be baptized.

Otherwise, we are doing a lot of things to find new people to teach. We are starting a Swedish Class on Wednesday evening...and spending a lot of time around the university contacting people and finding those who are interested in the gospel. I hope that each of you has a wonderful week! I hope that school, work, and everything else is going well. I know the church is true. I also know that we will be eternally blessed for our obedience to the Lord. Love you all!

Love,

Sister Suzanne Wood

Hejsan, hejsan! (Monday, August 23)

2010-09-09T15:51:00.000-07:00

Dear Family and Friends,

It has been a great week here in Lund. I will start by saying I don't have a lot of time to write today. So...this will be a short, and sweet email to let all of you know that the work is going very well here in Lund, and that I am in good health.

We were able to commit two of our investigators to baptism. One of them is a woman named Nashrin. She is the referral we received last week. She will be moving to Stockholm on Wednesday...so the Jakobsberg Sisters will be teaching her the rest of the lessons to her and be able to help her be baptized. The other is a man named Jian...from China. He is awesome! He's been studying here...and has come to have a faith in God and Jesus Christ. He will be in Lund until the end of Sept...so we will have the opportunity to teach him to baptism. :)

Otherwise, the work has been great. Our investigator Anna came to church yesterday for the first time!!!! It was AMAZING!!!! We have been inviting her for weeks...and it meant a lot to us that she came yesterday. She stayed for all three meetings and enjoyed herself! It's awesome! We also have three kids in our ward that we will start teaching. They are foster kids from Africa. We will start teaching them the lessons this week.

The University in Lund will be starting soon. So, we have 40,000 new potential "seekers of truth" that we will be talking to over the next several weeks. We will also be starting Swedish class next week, and there will be more activities going on at the Young Adult Center as well. I'm loving the work here. I hope to get some pics. sent soon...and I hope that all of you know that I am so grateful for all of the support you have all given me. I still have time...as I keep telling myself. I'll keep working hard to the end. That's the message of the gospel. :) Love you all...have a great week!

Love,
Sister Suzanne Wood

Anybody got some extra time??? (Monday, August 16)

2010-09-09T15:50:00.000-07:00

Dear Family and Friends,

This week has been wonderful in Lund. We have found 3 new investigators and have been working with our other investigators to help them to prepare for baptism. I am amazed at the changes that I can see in the lives of those we are teaching. It's amazing. I am just going to share a couple of highlights from last week...I figure over the last 16 months that all of you pretty much have a gist of what the work is like here in Sweden...I'll spare you from the generics. :)

We taught one of our investigators Anna last week. We decided to focus on faith in Christ and why it is so important to understand what Christ did for us and what it means to us today. We watched Finding Faith in Christ which went really well. Then, we ended the lesson and everything and Anna said, "Do you guys have like 5 minutes?" Of course we replied that we had the time and she then asked us a couple of profound questions about prayer. She asked us of our opinions and what she can do about how she is feeling when she prays...and it was an amazing teaching opportunity for us. Not to mention that it was our investigator who wanted to know how to improve her prayers. After we visited a few minutes, the member that we had invited to come on the teach with us said,"She really trusts you Sisters. That's awesome!" It was just a testimony building experience to me of the fact that it's the Spirit that teaches those who have a desire to learn about the gospel. I'm so grateful for the burden the Spirit lifts off of my shoulders to convince people of the truthfulness of the gospel.

We also had an awesome teach with a new investigator who now has a baptismal date in Sept. We were given a referral from the office to go by Nasarin last week. We went by on Saturday and she was home and let us in...with a smile on her face. As we visited with her, we found out that she has many siblings that are living in California and are all members of the church. She said she really liked the things that she knows about the church and wants to know more and how she can be in the "group". We were able to teach her the Restoration of the Gospel and then commit her to learn of the commandments that we live by over the next couple of weeks and then to be baptized into the church. The teach was amazing! She agreed to learn all the lessons, and we will be returning again on Wednesday to teach her again. :) There really are miracles...and there are people being prepared all the time...in every part of the world.

I am enjoying the work here in Sweden. I have my last Zone Conference on Wednesday...where I will bear my testimony...what we like to call our "dying testimony" on the mission. It is so serile that my days as a full-time missionary are going to come to a close. I am trying my best to make the most of these last weeks, and plan to see at least a couple more baptisms of the prepared into the Lord's church. I hope all is well for all of you. I know that school is starting for some...good luck! I know that some of you contitnue to work hard...hope you have had a little bit of a break during the summer. I know this is the Lord's church. I know that the gospel brings happiness, understanding and knowledge into our lives. Hope you have a great week!

Love,

Sister Suzanne Wood

A baptism! (Monday, August 9)

2010-08-15T10:26:00.000-07:00

Dear Family and Friends,

We have had a fantastic week in Lund! I am loving the area I am serving in and Sister Sumner and I are having a great time doing the work. We laugh a lot together...and although I think I am going crazy sometimes...we are really enjoying the work of the Lord.

The highlight of this week was definitely Denzil's baptism. We had everything organized and everything went smoothly from filling the font, to everybody showing up...especially Denzil. :) It was a really nice baptismal service, and there were several ward members there to support him. Sister Sumner talked, and I sang "I Feel My Savior's Love". The Bishop presided and conducted the meeting and one of Denzil's fellowshippers performed the baptism.

On Sunday, Denzil was confirmed a member of the church. He is married and has 3 kids in Sri Lanka, and he has asked Sis. Sumner and I to put together some lessons about the church so that he can teach his children the gospel! It's so amazing. He really was prepared and has gladly accepted the gospel in his life. It will definitely affect him into eternity. So awesome!

We also have a couple of other positive investigators here...Anna...a 30 Swedish woman who is really searching for happiness. She has been baptized before...which we are helping her to understand why she needs to be baptized again, and she has a lot more faith to build. She is really open and is keeping her commitments to read in the Book of Mormon and continues to meet with us.

Other than that, we have been trying to find those prepared people here in Lund, and I'm doing everything I can to focus on the work and give it everything I've got. know there are prepared people here...or else we wouldn't be serving here...so we are out trying to find them.

I love Lund's ward...there are about 150 people in the ward...which reminds me a little bit more of Stockholm. There are many people willing to help us with teaches and it's fun to be in a big ward again. We are also doing a lot of work with Less-Active Members here...and we met and have been teaching one member named Lena...who has been inactive for several years. When we first met her, she didn't want to be a member anymore...but by the end of our conversation, we had another time decided that we would come back, and she asked us what her homework was. It was awesome!

I'm looking forward to the center starting up again...it's been pretty slow with summer...so that will be great in a couple of weeks. Zone Conference is next week...and time is just flying by. I hope all of you are doing well. School must be starting soon...it means fall is on it's way. Have a great week. Stay close to the Spirit. We can truly know God's will for us if we look for the influence of His Spirit in our lives.

Love,

Sister Suzanne Wood

Lund is AMAZING!!

2010-08-02T12:32:00.000-07:00

Dear Family and Friends,

These first few days in Lund have been wonderful! I am so glad to be here. I have a wonderful companion...who works hard and has a great desire to do the work, and I'm in an awesome little city.

I will begin by talking about the trip down here to Lund. I wouldn't bother to talk about it if it were a normal train ride down the country, but in our case...it was an adventure to be shared. :)

First of all, I was on the train headed for Malmö with 3 other Elders. We got on the train ok, and even got started ok on our 4-5 hour trek down the country of Sweden. Well, about 45 min. into our trip, we came to a halt. The train instructor told us that there had been some computer problems, so that it would just take a few minutes to re-start the computer and then we would be on our way again. Well, as you can imagine...20 minutes later he said they were still working on things...and then an hour later...there started to be personnel people walking down the train telling us that they were not going to send busses to pick us up because the train wouldn't work at all. Well, needless to say, we had been waiting over 2 and a half hours when they came back through and told us that there was now another train that was going to come and pick us up in about an hour. So, we sat there in this little, middle-of-nowhere place called Skebokvarn. A couple of funny things happened while we were waiting. The personnel of the train actually asked all the Elders I was with to officially guard the doors so that nobody would fall or get hurt. They must have asked because the Elders look so official in their white shirts and ties. :) Then, I was entertaining little kids and getting to know several of the passengers on the train...as we did not have so much to do. It was pouring rain the whole time, and I was amazed that the people stayed as patient as they did the whole time...they realized there was really nothing they could do about it...but wait.

Eventually, the other train came. Then the real fun began. As it was pouring rain, and there were man people and bags to move from one train to the other, we all started pitching in to get things off the one train and on to the other. I was helping Elder Arko move our bags and the other Elders were helping to move all the other passengers things...they were officially the helpers. ;) They had ladders for people to climb down and up and it was amazing to see so many people changing trains in the rain in the middle of nowhere. Well, we got on the other train and got going FINALLY. But wait...about twenty minutes after we started moving again...we pulled to a little place called Flen...not Flem....even though it would have fit the place. hehehe...well anyway, they told us they needed to change drivers there. So, after another 40 minutes of sitting there and waiting, we were finally on our way. Eventually they came on the loud speaker as said that we would arrive 4 hours later than our anticipated time of arrival. It was crazy! We pulled into Lund Central at 12:00am...(the latest I've been up during my whole mission) and got ourselves home and settled in.

The next couple of days I was a bit tired...but that's pretty normal these days, and I just so happen to LOVE this city...so it was worth the wait to get here.

I also want to write a little about my awesome companion Sis. Sumner. She is from Stafford, Virginia and has been studying Public Health at BYU. She is from a family of 4 kids and she is a super missionary! She has been here in Sweden for 4 months with Sis. Coleman and was really excited that I came down to spend my last weeks with her. :) She likes volleyball, and reading classic novels...don't worry I'm not trying to advertise her. ;) She has a great desire to work hard, and I'm grateful for the fact that she is motivated and will help me to stay motivated until the end. I'm expecting a lot of success this transfer.

We have a baptism here in Lund on Saturday! He is a man named Denzil from Sri Lanka. He had come in cotact with the missionaries first through Swedish Class here in Lund and was not at all interested in the gospel then...but recently, he showed up at the Institute Center and was asked by the Center Senior Couple missionaries to go see a baptism with them. He said he would, and then from then on out, he let the Sisters know that he wanted to be baptized. This was about a week and a half ago...so we are teaching him everyday in order to get him ready for baptism. He's been in church several times and is loving the gospel. He reads the scriptures everyday and talks about how good it feels to him when he reads, or when he is in church. He's awesome! I'mm be excited to write about the baptism next week!

Other than that, I am just getting to know the area. We have some other positive investigators...some of which are on semester (vacation) right now but that I am excited to meet when they get back. I'm doing well. I'm happy and healthy. I love this work! I know the Lord leads His work and that He leads us to those who are prepared for the gospel as we show our obedience and faith. I continue to learn from the scriptures daily. Make sure you read in the scriptures!!! It's so important that we continue to nourish our testimonies with the words of Christ! I love you all and hope that you all have a great week!

Much Love,

Sister Suzanne Wood

TRANSFER INFO.!!!!! (Wed., July 28)

2010-08-02T12:31:00.000-07:00

Dear Family and Friends,

This week has gone by SO fast! I can't believe it's transfers tomorrow. I have my last transfer beginning...and I will be moving...and to my great astonishment...I will be moving for the first time in a year...out of the Stockholm District. Any guesses where I'm going?? Anybody?? Oh wait...you don't know what my options are. Well, I'll just tell you all where I'm going:

LUND

You may all be wondering where that is...or why I am so excited about the change. For those of you who have been following my mission, I have spent the vast majority of it in the Stockholm area. And now, I am moving to the lowest part of Sweden that Sister missionaries can go. Lund is in an area called Skåne. It is just a ferry ride away from Denmark! I will have the opportunity to learn a new language...it's called Skånska. Let me explain. It is not the Swedish I have been speaking for the last 16 months. This is a CRAZY version of it that has tons of Danish influence. I am probably going to feel like a greenie contacting the people in this area of Sweden. I'll have to say...what was that??? like 5 times before I understand what they are saying. It will be awesome!

I will be serving in Lund with Sister Sumner. She has been in Lund for the last 4 months with Sister Coleman...by companion from the MTC. I am really excited to serve with her. Lund is also a University Town...so there is a YSA Center there...similar to the one I was working with in Stockholm, and many University students to talk to. I'm totally excited. Not to mention I will have the opportunity to see a different landscape and see how it is on the south side. :)

I have to admit, that even though I am very excited to move and see some new things, and meet new, wonderful people, that I am sad to leave Uppsala. I love this city! The ward I have been working with is made up of the quirkiest, best people, and I will miss them terribly. There are also a couple of new converts that I have been working a lot with and will miss as well. Philippe and Sam. They are great!

We had the opportunity to have 8 BYU exchange students here in Uppsala the last couple of weeks. They have been here learning Swedish, so we've had good sized Sunday School classes, and great FHE activities with them. It was really fun to have some visitors here in Uppsala. Everything is still going well with Solomon...he will be getting baptized in 2 weeks...as long as he can get to church. He often works on Sundays, so we are trying to get that figured out. I've loved working with Sis. Virkamäki!!!! She is awesome! We have had a lot of fun together this transfer, and I have really grown to love her, and will miss her very much.

I hope that all of you are doing well! I hope that the summer is warm...for those of you in the south...hope it's not TOO warm! ;) I know that this is the Lord's work. I feel confidence that I am needed in Lund to help the work move forward there. I know that the Leaders of the Church make their decisions under the direction of the Spirit and that we can trust in their counsel!

I love you all! Take care, and have a great week!!!

Love,

Sister Suzanne Wood

Can it get any hotter around here? (Monday, July 19)

2010-08-02T12:30:00.000-07:00

Kära Familj och Vänner,

This week has been wonderful here in Uppsala. We have had the opportunity to visit several less-active members, and meet with our investigators as well. I am doing well. I'm continuing to work hard, and try my best to help others however possible...to come to the gospel. I start my last transfer of the mission next Thursday...which I have very mixed feelings about. I have no idea what will happen...but I'm sure that wherever I am, whoever I serve with..there is still much of the Lord's work to do. It has been incredibly warm in Sweden these last couple of weeks. We have gotten about 10 min. of rain total in the last weeks here...and it has been aroune 30 degrees celcius...I think it's about 85 degrees Farenheit. I know...I know..."not so bad" you say...but remember I am in a country with no air conditioning...and busses with no windows. Ok, I'm done complaining...I know far too many of you who served in South America...and probably didn't have A/C...or heat...I take back all the complaints. :) It's been a beautiful summer here. I love the green everywhere. It's truly a beautiful land.

We have an investigator named Solomon. I don't know if I have mentioned anything about him before...so here's a short background of how we started teaching him. We were doing email a few weeks ago here in the library and he called us...we didn't recognize the number..so when we left the library we called the number back. Solomon told us that he was contacted in Stockholm by two young men, and that they gave him our number in Uppsala because that's where he lives. We have now taught him the basic doctrine of the Restoration, the Plan of Salvation and the Gospel of Jesus Christ...and he is going to be baptized in August!! He is a sincere, humble man from Kenya who has mentioned on more than one occasion that this is "his church". We will do everything we can to help him and prepare him to make that covenant with the Lord. I'm so very grateful that I have met so many that are willing and prepared to hear and accept the gospel.

One thing that Solomon said during our teach last week really made an impact on me, and my views of things. He mentioned that we are pretty small in numbers in the church meetings we have in Uppsala. He then continued to express how many people might come to the church once...but that they see all that is required of the members of the church...and then they don't want to come back. He said there are lots of commandments in this church...and that there aren't many who are willing to follow the commandments. As I listened to him say these things...I had all sorts of things come to mind....but it was in pondering after the lesson that I really came to appreciate that there are so many willing, active members in the church...who keep the commandments. The organization of the church...is dependent upon the faithfulness of the members. Imagine if most of the members of the church just showed up and left without taking care of their 1 calling...well, to put it simply...church wouldn't happen. We each make the commitment to do our callings...and in part...we are each helping to keep the kingdom of God running smoothly every day, week, month and year...not to mention that we build His kingdom when we do our part. I have just really come to realize how important every member is...no matter the calling...that we all contribute to the ward/branch in which we serve is vital to it's function. We are few...and we know that "many are called but few are chosen".

We also had another miracle the same day we invited Solomon to be baptized. We had about 20 minutes before he would be at the church, so we decided we needed to go out and contact before he came. We were a little skeptical of the success we would have on a Friday night in the middle of Summer in a college town...well we went out anyway. :) As we walked, we stopped a woman who was walking slowly down the sidewalk with her bike. (Traditionally those who have bikes that work...ride them, not walk them.) We stopped her and I asked her if she had ever asked herself any of life's questions. She began by explaining that she was on her way home to an empty house, with not much to do, and that she had been out to get herself some dinner...to fill up part of the empty space she feels in her life right now because of the contemplation she's been doing about the meaning of her life. I think my jaw probably dropped more and more with every word she said testifying to me that she was in desperate need of the gospel. We visited for several more minutes about why we are here...and were able to assure her that there is life after this life. It was amazing. We will be teaching Elisabeth Strand on Thursday to teach her about our loving Heavenly Father, and His plan for each of us.

I am so grateful for the gospel. I have been unbelievably blessed in my life because of it. I know that obedience brings us promised blessings...no matter the situation we are in. One thing that I said to Sis. Virkamäki yesterday as we were discussing books we are reading...is that there are stereo-types out there about every culture, race, clique, etc. in the world. I know that none of those stereo-types applies to everybody in a particular category...but I do know that there is one thing that applies to everybody...and that is God. His commandments...His word, and His gospel all apply to all of us. Continue in faith! I love you all. I know this is the Church of Jesus Christ on the earth. I'm grateful for your examples and love.

Next week, I won't write until Wednesday because of Transfers on Thursday. Have a great week!

Much Love,

Sister Suzanne Wood

Pics

2010-07-12T05:41:00.000-07:00

Me in front of the Stockholm Temple

All of us in the same group...love these girls!

Sister Coleman and me at the Temple during Sisters Training!

All the Sisters in the Mission....such wonderful ladies!

The Stockholm District this Transfer...we have the biggest district in the mission!

Me in front of Dom Kyrka...the largest in Sweden.

Summer...love the summer!

2010-07-12T05:40:00.000-07:00

Dear Family and Friends,

This week has been great in Uppsala. It has been really warm all week...which is unusual in Sweden. It's been about 80 degrees all week. I'm grateful for the warmth...but the busses really do need to get some A/C going on. Every time we step onto the bus, it's like walking into a sauna...oh...what a blessing A/C is. :) There really isn't such a thing here. For the most part, there is not A/C in the houses, or buildings, so when it's warm...it's warm no matter where you are. :)

The work has gone well this week. I'm happy, healthy, and continuing to do everything I can to invite others to learn about the gospel and repent. I love the gospel! I'll just share a couple of things that happened this week:

Ok...so I am going to start this by saying that when I got to Uppsala...I checked out the phone, and realized that the previous missionaries had a totally different organization of the phone than the rest of the mission...i.e. NO organization. :) We have had lots of fun throughout the transfer ringing to random phone numbers with no explanation...and asking them if they want to learn about the gospel. I've gotten every response...from already members who live in other parts of Sweden, to people who are totally NOT interested...to a few that said we could call back after summer. Well, with that introduction...one thing that happened last week was topping on the cake. :)

We found a number for a Christopher...who was marked as a TU...or tänk-bara...what is that in english...oh yeah...a potential investigator. We called him up, he was really positive and we set up a time to meet. When we went there, I asked him what his religious background was. In response he said, "I am a member of the true Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints!" I think my response was something like, "What?!?!" Well, to make a long story short, Christopher is what I like to call a mystery member...he was baptized several years ago in Norrköping...my first area, and has moved several times...and his records are somewhere in cyberspace. We were able to teach him the Restoration and then invite him to church. He came! It was a funny thing that happened, but I'm grateful that we are able to have contact with a member and help him to be more active in the church. There's a reason for everything!

We had some really good teaches this week, and we have also had some challenges. One of our investigators who we have now taught the 3rd lesson to (Gospel of Jesus Christ) thought that we were the same as the Swedish Church...there's a lot to review about the Restoration with her...but she has a desire to learn and know....and it helped me to keep the perspective that people are truly "kept from the truth because they know not where to find it". I pray that we will be about to help her see the differences in our church, including the authority from God we have in the Priesthood, and the continued revelation received through the prophet and apostles...not to mention another witness we have of Jesus Christ through the Book of Mormon. As many of you know...I love to teach...and I continue to learn new ways of approaching teaching situations to best help those we teach.

We have our hard times as missionaries. However, no matter if it's a hard day, or whatever the challenge proves to be, I am continually amazed at the support we receive from the Lord to do His work. I am amazed that we have transfers in another 2 weeks and that I will be starting my last transfer on the mission. I still have much to do and much to learn. I hope you all have a great week. I pray often that all of you will be in good health, and continue to live worthy of the companionship of the Holy Ghost. Know that I love and care about you. I know this Church is the Lord's church.

Love,

Sister Suzanne Wood

Is it really "warm" here?? (Monday, July 5)

2010-07-12T05:39:00.000-07:00

Kära Familj och Vänner,

It's been a great, and very warm week here in Sweden. We have had several days of about 80 degree weather...which has been quite a surprise. It's actually a little too warm for me...I'm going to die when I get back into that hot, dry, southern Utah weather! Oh well, I don't need to worry about that yet. :)

The work in Uppsala is going well. We are continuing to meet with our investigators and help them move forward in the gospel. Sister Virkamäki and I headed into Stockholm for a Sisters Training at the Mission Home on Monday and Tuesday. It was wonderful. I want to share a little of what I learned there that I really liked:

President Anderson shared a message with us during our training, and one of the things he shared was a story Pres. Packer tells of a trip where they were on a boat going from one island to another...and to enter into the harbor of the island they were approaching, there was only a very small whole in the reef where they could enter with the boat. In order for the boat to know where the little entrance was, there was the lighthouse light at the top...but besides that, there needed to be a lower light that would shine and the captain of the boat needed to line up both of the lights in order to know that he was going in at the right place. Well, in the story, the lower light didn't get turned on because the person in charge of it fell asleep during their watch. As a result, the boat could not enter in at that place, and the boat had to go another 20 miles to another harbor in another part of the island.

With this story, Pres. Anderson compared us as missionaries...or we can say as members of the church...to the lower light. Christ is the upper light that we are all trying to come closer to...or follow, and we as the Lord's servants are the lower light. We are the way in which people come unto Christ. We help people line up their lives so that they can come to Christ through repentance and become perfected in Him. I really liked the analogy he used. We then sang, "Brightly Beams our Father's Mercy"...and the lyrics of that hymn are directly connected with the story Pres. Packer tells.

I was really uplifted and motivated by our training last week. We also got to do a session at the temple...it was amazing!!! I realize continually that I still have much to learn about how to be an unwavering, orubblig (unshakable) servant of the Lord Jesus Christ. I continue to stay on watch...and I'm continuing to help others come to Christ.

I'm doing really well here. I hope all of you had a wonderful 4th of July. We were invited to an American woman's house for a little celebration on Saturday, and it was wonderful to get to celebrate...even in another land. We need to all continue to be grateful for the freedoms we enjoy in the USA. It is a choice land.

I hope you all have a wonderful week. To end, I'll share a miracle we were able to see from last week. We had been contacting in the city for quite a while...and it was a pretty rough response...and we were going to take the bus home and went to see how long it would be before the bus would leave. Realizing that we had a 5 min. wait before the bus would come, we decided we would contact on the way to the next bus stop and catch the buss from there. As we started to walk, Sis. V saw two girls headed our way. She stopped them, and as we got talking, we realized that one of them was a girl from Pheonix, AZ visiting her friend Sandra...who is from Uppsala, but had been in Pheonix as an exchange student for 1 year. Not very far into the conversation, Sandra asked us if we were from "Mormonska Kyrka"...we replied yes, and they then preceded to show us their CTR rings. I was like...WHAT?!?! You have CTR rings?? Are you members of the church...and they replied no. Well it turns out that Sandra had been living with an LDS Family in Pheonix, and she got back to Sweden the day before we met her on the street in her home town of Uppsala. We got her phone number and told her that we have a church here. She was very glad to hear that. It was so amazing to have that opportunity to meet them. I pray that we will be able to meet and teach Sandra, and I am very sure that we were an answer to many prayers...that she would be able to find the church when she came back to Sweden. This work is a work of miracles, because it is the work of the Lord.

Have a great week! Take care of yourselves. I can't believe it's July. We have Sharpening tomorrow...with interviews, and I'm sure this week will be full of adventure, and more importantly...with miracles.

Love,

Sister Suzanne Wood

Midsommar Pics

2010-06-29T13:54:00.000-07:00

Sister Virkamäki and me with Pres. and Sister Anderson at Midsommar

The majstång (May Pole) everybody danced around during the Midsommar celebration.

Me with the majstång...

Sister Virkamäki with the majstång.

Sis. Virkamäki and me before the festivities...we played frisbee :) and soccer!!

Sis. Virkamäki and me in front of one of the university's buildings.

Almost July! (Monday, June 28)

2010-06-29T13:53:00.000-07:00

Kära Familj och Vänner,

Hej på er! Hoppas allt är bra överallt och med allting. Arbetet här i Uppsala går jätte bra! Jag älskar den här staden och har haft en underbar vecka!

We've had a great week here in Uppsala! We have had a busy week with Zone Conference last Tuesday, and Midsommar festivities on Friday. We have been busy, and I'm loving the warm summer weather. We have bikes that work...I am discovering that I LOVE to ride bikes. There are awesome trails and bike lanes everywhere here. It's great!

As for our week in the work...everything is going well. We were able to meet with a couple of our investigators during the week, and we are helping everybody to make and keep commitments. The work has been slower here in Uppsala during the last couple weeks, but we are continuing to find people to teach. The Lord truly blesses us with miracles as we do His work.

One miracle this week, was that on Saturday afternoon we were on our way to eat dinner at Sister Rivera's house. She lives a train ride away, so we left and had about 15 minutes to contact people before we needed to head to the station. We met a girl named Cecilia. We asked her if she had thought about why she was here on the earth...she said she didn't really know. Sis. V asked her then, "Do you believe in anything?" The girl replied that she didn't really believe, but that she wanted to. She said that life is meaningless without something to believe in. We gave her a Book of Mormon and were able to get her phone number to make an appointment to meet sometime this week. There are not many Swedish people I have met who say that they WANT to have something to believe in. It was a miracle! The Lord knows where we are as His servants...and He is also aware of His children who are searching for the truth.

Yesterday, Marcus came to church. Every week he has been there, I've noticed that he is wearing nicer and nicer clothing everytime he comes to church. He has been coming to Sunday School and Sacrament meeting. We want to meet him this week and invite him to be baptized. We hold Sunday School in the classroom that is right next to the baptismal font. Yesterday he asked what it was...I got the opportunity to explain a little about our beliefs of baptism. I'm looking forward to teaching him about the way he can prepare to be baptized and receive all the blessings that come from following the Savior. We also had another investigator come to church yesterday...Christer! It was a great day at church.

Everything else is going well with me. I'm in good health...and continue to be happy to do the work of the Lord. I won't say that the work isn't hard...it has it's challenges, but as I continue to serve with all my heart, the Lord makes up for my shortcomings and helps people to change through their acceptance of the gospel.

I've started reading The Book of Mormon again...this time making a commentary in my own words of what is happening. It has really helped me to see the teachings in a different way. It is so very true that every time we read in the Book of Mormon, there is something new we can learn. I am so grateful for revelation that we can receive through the Spirit. It's what makes the difference when we study the scriptures, when we study for school, when we are looking for answers to our questions...the Holy Ghost can witness of the truth about EVERYTHING. What a great promise. I look forward to my studies everyday!

I hope all of you have a great week. We are headed to Stockholm tonight for a Sisters' Training Conference. It will be great I'm sure. We will be staying in the Mission Home tonight and tomorrow night and have training all day tomorrow and a temple session for all of us Sisters in the evening. I'm looking very much forward to that. We also will meet with Hans and Anette this week. We pray that they have read and prayed. The gospel really blesses everybody! Everybody needs it. It's the key to eternal salvation. I'm so glad I have the opportunity to share it with the people of Sweden. Time is going by all too quickly. I'm trying my best to make it count!

Love you all! Take care!

Sister Suzanne Wood

Suz's Birthday Pics

2010-06-29T13:44:00.000-07:00

St. Marias Kyrka....built in the 14th century.

Sister Swenson, Sister Maxwell, Sister Virkamäki and I at the old ruins in Sigtuna.

The kyrkogård outside of the St. Marias Kyrka.

The Princess tårta that Jakobsberg Sisters made me for my birthday!

Wonderful work! (Monday, June 21)

2010-06-29T13:43:00.000-07:00

Kära Familj och Vänner,

It's been a great week here in Uppsala. We've had wonderful teaches, flat tires on bikes, a surprise investigator in church, and many other ups and downs. So basically, it has been another adventure filled week in my life as a missionary in Sweden.

I don't have a ton to write about today. I feel that as time continues to go on, I continue to have many uplifting experiences...but I feel like I have probably written about something similar in another letter...several months ago. I thought I would do something a little bit different today. I will highlight the week...with just a few points of excitement, and then share with all of you a little bit of what I've learned over the last couple of weeks...t

Highlights of the week:

1. We were able to teach Hans and Anette again. This time, the boys came in before we left...and we told them they were invited to be with us next time we come over. We explained that we will be playing a game...and then we laughed and joked...and talked about how we all love pizza. :) It was awesome. We are sincerely praying that Anette will read in the Book of Mormon...we talked about how it answers the questions of our souls, and she and Hans accepted our challenge to pick a question they have, and then read in the B of M to find some answers. We are going to visit on Wednesday...with a not yet created....fantastic game to include the whole family. I am SO grateful that I have the opportunity to help this family be stronger together. The gospel really does bless families!

2. I had a fantastic birthday!!! We went with the Jakobsberg sisters to an old village that is between our two areas and we went and checked out the old ruins, and had a great time together. Later on that evening, we had FHE with the YSA's and one of our investigators was able to come. It was awesome. They sang to me...in English...how thoughtful.

3. We were out contacting on Saturday...and often there are other young people that are out selling things on the streets in the cities around here during the summer. Well, one of them contacted me and said, "Can I ask you a question?" I then replied, "Yeah, if you let me ask you a question also." Well, she asked her question...and I explained that we don't have control over our bills...we wouldn't be able to use the service she was offering...then I asked my question, "What do you think is the meaning of life?" She was kind of taken back, but started really to think about it. We visited for a minute, told her about the Book of Mormon and she gave us her number so that we can meet and give her a Book of Mormon and tell her more about how she can find answers to life's questions. It was awesome!!!

The work continues to be rewarding for me. I love the people I have the opportunity to work with. I love my companion and have already learned a lot from her. I'm continually learning patience...with myself, with others, with bikes, with everything. I am especially learning to have patience with the Lord's timing. I got the opportunity to read Pres. Uchtdorf's talk on patience from the Priesthood Meeting last conference...and boy has it opened my eyes to the important nature of patience. I'll never forget the talk I gave in Sacrament Meeting before I was supposed to go into the MTC October of 2008...of course the topic being "Patience". I know we continue to learn patience throughout life, in order to be truly refined and willing to accept the Lord's timing.

I continue to learn a lot in my study. I love to study the gospel. I understand many things better than I did before my mission. What a blessing it is for all of us to be able to read in the scriptures, and read the words of the latter-day prophets, and learn and grow continually in our knowledge of the mysteries of God. I hope you have all taken advantage of the fact that there is so much for us to study and learn...to become the sons and daughters our Heavenly Father wants us to be...His Sons...and His daughters. We can all do that by continuing to get to know Him better...and of course getting to know The Savior better. They are truly one.

Love you all! Hope you all have a great week and that everything is going well during the summer!

Love,

Sister Suzanne Wood

Happy Birthday to me!!!! (Monday, June 14)

2010-06-29T13:39:00.000-07:00

Dearest Family and Friends,

Yes...I know...I'm so very selfish to wish myself a happy birthday...but I turned 25 today. I had better live it up. I'm a quarter of a century old. All the Elders coming into the mission were born in the 90's...and let's be honest...I'm getting old!!!! (Don't worry dad...I know you still got me by a long shot...in years...and in wisdom!!!)

This week in the work, we've seen the small successes the Lord gives to His servants. Here in Uppsala, we continue to face what I have now coined, "The Swedish Summer Phenomenon". It's the idea that every summer in the beautiful, green, warm land of Sweden, that NOBODY stays in their place of "rest of the year" residence. All the students go home for the summer, and all the other citizens go to their summer cottages, or travel to exotic places all over the world. This phenomenon continues to be present, but does not stop the work going forward.

Even though it has been hard to meet with our investigators, we have continued to have success in our area. I am always SO grateful for the Lord's continued awareness of us, and His children everywhere. Here's a couple of the miracles we saw during the week!

First: I'm sure that all the World Cup soccer has been fun for all you boys our there...and for the girls also....but shopping is WAY better! :) Anyway...we actually went tracting on Saturday night..when there was a World Cup game on...and everybody was pretty edgy with us...we had no idea there would be a game on...until one lady said to us..."It's not so wise for you to be out talking about the meaning of life when there's a World Cup game on!!!" We laughed, figured out that must be why everybody was SO frustrated in their "Not interested" responses...and despite all the negative responses...we ended up finding someone to teach on the last door we knocked on who wanted a Book of Mormon and was interested in knowing more about the gospel. The Lord's work keeps going...even when the World Cup is on!! :)

Second: We have been working with a less active family...the Bywanders. Actually...just the dad is a member of the church. He has a sambo (live in wife figure...even though they are not married) and 3 boys. we went to visit them last week, and found out that Annette...the woman who has been atheist...has actually been praying!!! Woohoo!!! And then, Hans...the dad...promised us he would come to church...and he came. We did our part with fasting and prayer, but we saw the hand of the Lord in that family more than once this last week.

Third: An investigator named Christer...who we don't really teach right now because he has not been progressing...actually called us yesterday to tell us that he read in the Book of Mormon! He called us just to tell us that....we had a few minutes, stopped by and invited him to continue reading in the B of M...and to come to church next week. I have been so grateful during the whole week to see these little miracles...

It makes the difference in the work for me to know that as long as I continue to be diligent in the work, and show my faith by my obedience, that I will continue to see successes in the mission...no matter how small they may be. We are continuing to look for the prepared who are ready for baptism...and I know that we will find those who are prepared...even during the summer. ;) I love this work! I'm grateful to be a servant of the Lord, and I'm looking forward to this week. It's going to be a good one! Hope all is well with all of you! You all remain in my prayers! Take care, and have a great week!

Love,

Sister Suzanne Wood

Last Pics of Stockholm

2010-06-08T12:05:00.000-07:00

One of the last sunsets I saw in Stockholm...love the hot air balloon...beautiful!

A cool shot of the pendeltåg and the sunset...the commuter trains I took often in Stockholm.

Yvonne and me...one of the wonderful investigators I was working with my entire time in Jakobsberg!

Jenny Kempler and me my last day in Jakobsberg. She is an awesome member!

Sandra Miranda...my official "duet girl" from Jakobsberg's ward.

Sis. Maxwell and me on Transfer Day at "The Ring" in Stockholm Central

Sis. Virkamäki and me on our first day as companions. :)

Gotta Love the Work! (Monday, June 7)

2010-06-08T11:56:00.000-07:00

Family and Friends,

This week in Uppsala has been great! We have had many challenges this week, but I'm glad to say that I'm still happy and enjoying the work. It's amazing to me that things are not always what they seem to be. I was in a way hoping that the 3 people who had decided to be baptized with Sis. Swenson and Sis. Virkamäki would be easy to meet with and totally ready to be baptized on the dates they had set. I also was hoping with all my heart that all the people we have been able to talk to, get their phone number...and who seemed quite interested in the gospel would be immediately willing to meet with us, learn the restored gospel and after learning of the Restoration of the gospel....want to set up a baptismal date and work to be baptized in Christ's church. I know some of you must assume that I see the world through rose colored glasses...and I'm sure that a lot of the time I do...but...I continue to learn along the way that sometimes we are faced with challenges to help us grow and to learn patience, to submit to the Lord's timing, etc.,etc., etc.

Not to disclose all the details of our week, I will just say that it was challenging. Things did not go as we had planned, and we continually needed to re-plan, use our backup plans, and then backup our backup plans. One day I was reading in the book of Mormon about the sons of Mosiah and thier missionary work. As many of you know...they were faced with all sorts of trials in their labors among the Lamanites. A couple of verses came to mind...and really helped me get through the week. First, was when the Lord's Spirit comes the them and says: "Be comforted. And they were comforted. And the Lord said unto them also: Go forth amongst thy brethren, and establish my word; yet be patient in long-suffering and afflictions, that ye may show forth good examples unto them in me, and I will make an instrument of thee in my hands unto the salvation of many souls." Then, later, the same amazing missionaries had some hard times and they said the following, "Now when our hearts were depressed, and we were about to turn back, behold, the Lord comforted us and said: Go amongst thy brethren, the Lamanites, and bear with patience thine afflictions, and I will give unto you success."

Now, I know that I signed up for this gig. I knew from the very beginning of my mission that there would be challenges, hard days, even sometimes hard weeks...but I also know that the Lord never leaves us alone in our trials, our afflictions, or with out weaknesses. I have continued to be amazed that the words of the prophets in the scriptures can truly help us to find strength, comfort and joy even during hard times. I have such an incredible greatfulness for the scriptures of the ancient prophets and the words of our latter-day prophet and apostles. Reading and applying their teachings helps me to be happy...and to face my challenges with courage...that the Lord will give unto me success.

I know this is the work of the Lord. I look forward to this week...the successes it will bring, the challenges it will bring...and most of all that I get to go out and bear my testimony that I know the truth...and that truth gives me incredible strength during this mortal life. I hope all of you have a wonderful week. I hope you are all healthy and happy...and of course that summer is treating you all well. I LOVE SWEDISH SUMMER!!!!!! It's SO beautiful here. I feel lucky to go outside every day and enjoy this amazing place! Please take care of yourselves and know that I continue to pray for you.

Much love,

Sister Suzanne Wood

Uppsala (Monday, May 31)

2010-06-03T12:36:00.000-07:00

Kära Familj och vänner,

Det har varit en underbar vecka här i Uppsala. Allt gick bra med förflyttningen och vi har en stor lägenhet här...mycket större än lägenheten i Stockholm. Oh...sorry I fogot I need to write this in english...oops! Let me start again. It's been a wonderful week here in Uppsala. Everything went well with the transfer and we have a big apartment here...much bigger than the apartment in Stockholm. Most important thing is not the size of the apartment. I was just used to living in a one room apt. in the city and now we have 2 rooms, a living room, a separate kitchen, etc. It's quite the luxury I am living in here. ;)

I am companions with Sister Virkamäki from Finland. She is a wonderful person and a great missionary. We are getting to know eachother and I'm sure we will continue to be better friends as the transfer goes on. She is very quirky. She loves to read, and loves music as well. We have a lot in common and work hard together. This transfer is going to be one of the best I've had on my mission!

One of the things about Uppsala that is really cool is that it is a University town. There are tons of students to talk to all over the place. The last couple of transfers have really shown a lot of fruits in this area. Right now, we have 15 investigators and between 30-40 potential investigators. There are many people who are interested in learning about the gospel here and we will continue to find more people to teach and help those who are ready to accept the gospel and be baptized. Also, we have 3 people who have been taught and who we are preparing for baptism...Moses, Sulayman, and Elias. We actually committed Elias to baptism my first day here. Awesome!!! Our goal for this week is to teach them all twice and have them all in church next sunday.

We also have a great YSA here. We receive a lot of help from them with teaches, and they have a very strong desire to do missionary work and to help however they can. A few of them are moving home for the summer, so there will only be a few here...but I'm sure it will be great with those that stay. We have a Senior couple here also...the Larson's. They are wonderful people. They will return home in July so we are looking forward to working with them these next couple of months.

The miracle for this week was an utställning (exhibit) we did here in Uppsala on Saturday. It started long before I got here...that the ward wanted to do an exhibit in the city to have people find out more about the church. Then, the YSA's decided that they wanted to help and be a part of it. So, from there the plans were made, a permit paid for, fasting done, and many prayers for us to find someone at that utställning to be baptized that is a YSA. We saw that the weather was not looking very good on Friday evening...so we prayed that the weather would be better on Saturday. Well, Saturday morning came and the weather was not much better. There was rain coming down and no sun came shining. We continued to pray that the sun would come out, that it would warm up...etc. so we would have lots of people to talk to.

10:00am rolled around and it was raining, a little chilly and we were wondering if there would be anybody to talk with out on such a bad day. I know you might all think that what the miracle was...that the sun came out and we talked to 100's of people all morning, etc. Well...that's not quite how it went. Through the entire time, the sun never came out, BUT...there were people to talk to. We talked to those who were out and we met many people who were interested in receiving a Book of Mormon and learning more. We had much success at the exhibit. We have at least 2 potential investigators who are YSA age who are willing to meet and learn more about what we believe.

The moral of the story is...we don't always get answers to our prayers in the way we want them. It's all too often that we pray for the sunshine...when the answer comes that we need to pray for people to talk to no matter the weather. The Lord is aware of us and our needs. He knew who to have out in Stor Torget on Saturday so we could talk to them. He knew that we would still go around and talk to people in the rain. I just have such a strong testimony of the Lord's hand in everything. He answers our prayers...not always in the way we think is best, but we receive what we need.

I am so grateful for the opportunity I have to serve here. I am looking very much forward to the next weeks of the transfer. We have a lot to do here and many people to touch. I hope all of you have a Wonderful Memorial Day and that all is well wherever you are. Take care and have a great week!

Love,

Sister Suzanne Wood

Address Change

2010-06-03T12:34:00.000-07:00

Hey! One more thing I forgot....they have changed it so that all the mail that is sent to us needs to be sent to the Mission Office address..which is the package address from now on. The address is:

Sister Suzanne Wood

Enebybergsvägen 38
SE-182 46 Enebyberg
Sweden

I wanted to make it a nice big size...so that everybody knows the address...and maybe uses it sometime. ;);)

Love you all!

Sister Wood

Transfer Information!!! (Wed., May 26)

2010-06-03T12:33:00.000-07:00

Dear Family and Friends,

Well it's official. I am leaving the boundaries of the Greater Stockholm Area!!! We received our transfer phone call yesterday right before personal study in which conversation President Anderson let us know that I will be moving to Uppsala and serving with Sister Virkamäki and that Sister Maxwell with be staying here and Sister Swenson will be coming to Jakobsberg to serve with her. :) It's very exciting! I am moving out of Stockholm but I will still be in the Stockholm District and come to Stockholm once a week for District Meetings. I am still a "Stockholm" girl. I am excited about the changes for next transfer. We actually had District Meeting in Uppsala about a week ago, so I was able to go up there and check out the city a little, while we did some contacting there. It's a beautiful place. It's a college town, and they are trying to get a Young Single Adult Center started in Uppsala, so I am very excited about that.

I will miss Jakobsberg! This place has become very dear to me. I'll miss the ward members, our investigators and of course Sister Maxwell. We have had a great transfer together. She is a great missionary and we have had a lot of fun doing the work together. The Music Concerts we have had have been really fun for me, and we had another great showing on last Sunday evening at the concert. We had all of our Swedish Class students come, and a couple of other non-members, and the music was wonderful. It's been really great to be able to sing a little bit. I sang a song from a musical in Swedish called, "Du måste finnas" which means you must exist. It's all about the fact that God needs to exist, or nothing matters, and everything is a big mess...that's of course my very rough translation. It's a beautiful song and I will definitely need to sing it for all of you when I get back. Sandra Miranda and I sang "When you Believe" again...which was awesome and Elder White who plays the guitar, arranged "Homeward Bound" for me to sing with. It's the song the Tabernacle Choir sings...it was also wonderful. Sister Maxwell played the flute, we sang a duet...in short, it was just a wonderful program. I'll miss music night!

The work continues to go well here. We have had a great week. We are going to go to one more activity with the youth tonight, and then head home and I need to get the rest of my stuff packed up...we'll see if it all fits. ;) I love the work here in Sweden. We have as a mission been trying to accomplish a "May Miracle" which is to have our baptismal dates actually get baptized. We have been working really hard to know what we can do to help those who are planning to be baptized make it. I know that I have seen so many little miracles as we have been trying to see the success happen here. The Lord is with us. We are doing His work. I'm so grateful for the blessing it is to serve everyday. I love the gospel. I gain new insights all the time. I know that the Plan of Salvation is real. Every time we teach the plan to people, I have a greater appreciation, and a very real confirmation that it is true. I have been really sensitive the last couple of days when I have born my testimony during teaches. It becomes more important to me all the time that those I teach understand the importance...the eternal significance of what we are teaching. What an honor it is to be a witness of the Savior in this wonderful land.

I am doing well. I had a cold most of the week, but was blessed to be able to sing Sunday night through the power of a Priesthood blessing. I am feeling much better today, and know that the Lord is blessing me to continue in the work. My back is just fine. I love what I am doing everyday, and am excited to experience a new city, and help many more people come to the gospel. I hope all of you have a great week!

Love,

Sister Suzanne Wood

New Pics

2010-05-19T13:15:00.000-07:00

Here are Suz's most recent pictures from Sweden.

Drottningholm...the palace where the King and Queen of Sweden actually live!

Pretty view of the palace.

Elder Edmunds in a log on the palace grounds...

Elder Edmunds coming out of the log! :)

German Pancakes for Sis. Maxwell's birthday

Sis. Maxwell on her birthday in her new, adorable shirt!

Sister Maxwell's Birthday Cake!

My first time eating Ceviche at a Chilean deli in Jakobsberg...so good!

Summer Days (Monday, May 17)

2010-05-19T13:14:00.000-07:00

Dear Family and Friends,

I've had a great week here in Jakobsberg. The sun has decided to grace us with it's presence these last few days, and it's been absolutely beautiful around our area. The trees are finally looking green, the tulips are in bloom and it's a little bit warm outside! We are always happy when the suns out and it's warm! I hope that all of you are enjoying warm weather as well. We have had a great week doing the work here.

One of the things that we were able to do last week which was wonderful is work with a lot of less-active members of the church. Those who haven't been to church for a long time...for whatever reason. We taught a man named Carlos and his wife Empertice. When we stopped by to visit them, they let us in and as we visited, the Spirit became very strong. Carlos served a mission in Chile many years ago, but has been inactive here in Sweden for several years. He still has a testimony of the gospel, he read the conference talks online from last conference, but he and his wife have been to church only 1 time since I have been here....and that was the only time in many years. As we taught them, I continued to think about the simple commandment it is for us to attend church every sunday. I thought about how easy it has been for Carlos to get out of the habit...and now it's proving to be very challenging for him to come back. We as human beings can come up with thousands of reasons why we can't be in church, or why we can't read our scriptures every day, or why it's easy to forget to pray...or whatever it is for us personally. But, I'm really learning that excuses don't change our consequences when it comes to what our Heavenly Father has asked us to do. Carlos is missing the blessings because he is choosing to excuse himself from God's commandments. I don't mean this to be harsh...but I just understand better how important it is to be obedient to the commandments. We receive our blessings based on our obedience.

We also met with several other people last week with the same scenario. Our ward here would be quadruple in size if all that had a testimony of the truth came to church. We will continue to work with these wonderful people and hopefully help them to make it back. I have such a strong testimony of continuing in faith...it makes all the difference.

We also taught swedish class last week, and continue to help people here learn the language better. Everything with Yvonne is going well. She has many difficulties she is trying to overcome and we are doing what we can to help her to be prepared for baptism again.

A man we met with for the first time last week named Matts was a member of the church in the 80's. He is no longer a member by his own choice, but has continued to have a testimony of the gospel. As we visited him, we asked if he had read and prayed about the Book of Mormon...like Moroni exhorts us to do. He said that he had never done that...even when he was a member the first time. Our commitment to him was to read, and pray about that specifically to receive an answer for himself. He is very positive and we hope to help him gain a true, personal testimony of the truthfulness of the gospel...not just a liking of us, or the people at church. We all need our own witnesses of the truth.

I feel a little preachy in this letter. I don't mean to be, but I hope that all of you continue to remember how important it is to hold on to your testimonies. Continue to live the gospel. Our Heavenly Father loves us each so much...He wants us to come back to Him. He wants us to be obedient so he can bless us. I know that to be true and continue to see the love Heavenly Father, and His Son Jesus Christ have for each of us...and also clearly for the people of Sweden...and all mankind. Please take care of yourselves! Have a great week. I'm in good health, and I'm happy doing the work of the Lord.

Love,

Sister Suzanne Wood

Great Day! (Monday, May 10)

2010-05-16T13:49:00.000-07:00

Dear Family and Friends,

It was so good to get to talk to all...well most of you yesterday. I am sad I didn't to talk to Tay and Derek...I hope you both know I love you! It was good to hear your voices and to know that everything is going well in your lives. I've thought about what to write today...because I reported quite a bit over the phone yesterday...but there were a few things I heard at Stake Conference here in Stockholm yesterday that I think I will pass along.

We were able to hear from Elder Texeira and his wife yesterday at Stake Conference. His wife talked about the Plan of Salvation and families. Her comments were wonderful. She had a great spirit about her and was very sincere in what she said. She talked about the importance of families and how husbands and wives need to cleave to one another and provide the environment for an eternally progressing family. As I listened I thought about the blessing that I feel to have such a wonderful family. I am grateful for all that I have learned and continue to learn from all of you. It has been impressed more on me all the time the eternal nature that our families can have here. What an amazing blessing our Heavenly Father has given to us...to be sealed together for time and all eternity. We can have the reassurance that we will all be together after this life as long as we do our best to follow the Savior here. I just really felt the importance of that as she spoke yesterday and have a strong testimony of the plan of salvation. I know it's for all of us. I know that it's for our happiness.

Elder Texeira talked about "Follow the Prophet" which was the theme for conference yesterday. He said some things that were addressed to the youth in Sweden that I think apply to all of us...and would like to share. As he said he would talk about following the prophet, he asked if anybody in the audience follows the prophet. I was surprised about where he went from there. He told us of the website www.followtheprophet.net which is a site where there are periodic updates about where the prophet is, what he is doing, etc. He said it's also easy to follow the prophet from facebook. He then went on to encourage the youth to not be afraid to share the gospel through the social networking sites that so many are a part of. He also encouraged them to have the same standards on the web as they do in real life. I thought about the nature of his comments and how the generation that is growing up now is absolutely a technology generation. There can be so much good influence passed on through the internet. He of course also talked about how important it is to listen to the prophet's voice and heed his counsel. He is the voice of the Lord here on the earth. I'm so grateful for my testimony of the Prophet Thomas S. Monson. I know he is a man who has been called of God. I know that he teaches us the things the Lord wants us to know.

The rest of the week went well. We are working on finding new investigators. We have had some investigators disappear and really want to help some more people to come closer to Christ. We have two weeks left in the transfer. It's gone by so fast. Sis. Maxwell's birthday is on Wednesday, so we'll do a little celebrating somehow...maybe I'll have some random people sing to her with me and then ask them if they are interested to know more about the gospel. :)

I'm looking forward to this week. We have some less-active members who we haven't been able to meet with yet that we are going to meet with this week. We also have a couple of new people to teach. It'll be a great week. Again, it was so good to get to talk to you all! I hope that this week is wonderful. Take care of yourselves! I love you!

Love,

Sister Suzanne Wood

Valborg!!! (Monday, May 3)

2010-05-16T13:48:00.000-07:00

Dear Family and Friends,

Everything in Sweden has been great this last week. The sun has been out...for the most part and the work is continuing to move forward. We have had a few less teaches this last week because a couple of our investigators have gone MIA...but we continue to work hard and the Lord continues to bless us in our efforts.

There is not a whole lot to report from last week, but that we had a couple of cool experiences. One, was a swedish tradition which was Friday evening. We were able to go out and celebrate what is called Valborg. It's the last day of April every year. It's a celebration of the change between winter and spring. In all the different communities they gather huge piles of wood that need to be burned. Then, they invite everybody to come and it is kind of a ceremony where the "scouts" here come with their torches lit and get the fire going. It was a pretty awesome sight when it really started to burn. It was maybe a 25-30 ft. flame. We went down and were with our Zone Leaders and a couple of other missionaries in Handen...a community close to the temple. It is neat to be able to be a part of the traditions of the country.

We were also able to meet again with Zebedee and George from the Congo. They are still really positive and had many questions about the Plan of Salvation. One of Zebedee's sons joined us when we taught him and we continue to invite the rest of the family to come and also learn the gospel. We have also continued to meet with Yvonne, and Lawal is still doing well. We talked to him about the temple last week and he is excited to get to go there.

We are looking forward to this week. We will be having a Mission Tour with Elder Texeira from the Europe Area Presidency. He actually gave a talk in General Conference in April of 2009 and related the Spirit to a GPS system...if any of you remember that. We are all looking forward to the conference! Sis. Maxwell and I have been asked to do a musical number...which will be really fun to do. :)

Other than that, everything is going well here. I'm enjoying the work, I enjoy having so many opportunities to work with the members here and strengthen them. I'm continually grateful for our wonderful ward here in Jakobsberg. I can't believe we only have 3 weeks left in the transfer. Time continues to fly. I love the gospel so much. I continue to have the confirmation that this is Christ's church. I know that Pres. Monson leads the church through revelation and I am continually grateful that I know that God still reveals truth to each one of us. Continue strong in the gospel. The blessings Heavenly Father has for each one of us is worth the effort to live in accordance with the commandments. I love the work. I love each of you. Have a great week!

Love,

Sister Suzanne Wood

Almost May! (Mon., April 26)

2010-05-02T15:06:00.000-07:00

Dear Family and Friends,

I can't explain how quickly time is going by. It truly feels like yesterday that I was here...at the library....writing my email to all of you about the happenings here in Jakobsberg. Everyday goes by more quickly. We stay busy and I'm amazed at how quickly time goes by.

We have had a great week this last week! One of the highlights was Music Night last night. We had many people come and listen to the music, not to mention the program was not too shabby. Sis. Maxwell played the flute...wonderfully I might add, I sang...in different combinations and a solo....and we had a visiting Russian Choir come and join our program. The ward really enjoyed the evening and it was enjoyable for us also to put such an evening together. One of the men named Thomas that comes to our Swedish class came last night and brought his wife. It was the first opportunity we had to meet her. They enjoyed the concert...and are actually Russian...so they really appreciated the choir. Also, one of our members Malin...her parents came...who are not members. It was great to have them there as well.

We also had a really cool experience on Saturday. One of our investigators named George...told us about his friend who he lives with that wanted us to visit him sometime. We went there on Saturday and met George's friend Zebedee. We decided to teach the Restoration to them...and watch the Restoration Movie in French...their first language. (They are both from the Congo....French side.) After the movie...Zebedee wanted to explain something to us in Swahili...also a language they speak and have George translate into English. As George explained to us...we found out that Zebedee was in a high security prison in the Congo for six years. He explained that we are not the first Mormons he has met. When he was in jail there was a man who was a mormon. Everybody in the jail tried to be like him...but they didn't understand why he acted differently. As the story continued Zebedee went on to explain that he has had the same kind of miraculous experience like Joseph Smith had. We didn't get the entire story...but somehow Zebedee was able to escape from prison and make his way to Europe. He had received revelation through his prayers that he would end up in Europe. I just think about the fact that he would have never been able to hear about the gospel in the situation he was in. He was a prisoner of war...with a death sentence...and now he has no problem accepting who Joseph Smith was and what he saw. The Spirit was very strong as we talked with them, and we will be visiting them again this week. He has a wife and 4 children who are here with him. Amazing stuff I tell ya!

Otherwise, everything is good here. I'm enjoying riding bikes, the weather has been beautiful here and we are looking forward to another great week. We rode our bikes last week to one of our areas and discovered a nature reserve we are going to ride to today and take some pics. at.

I don't have much else to say this week. I hope you all have a great week, and that everything going on is going well. I know that school is just about winding down, and that summer is on it's way! Love you all! I pray that Heavenly Father will watch over all of you!

Love,

Sister Suzanne Wood

Äntligen Vår! (Wed., April 19)

2010-05-02T15:04:00.000-07:00

My dear family and friends,

It's finally springtime around here! There are little green buds everywhere and some flowers are starting to bloom! It will still be a little while until everything starts to grow and Stockholm will become a wonderful green place....but it's beginning...and that's a good place to start. Sis. Maxwell and I have had a great week this last week.

We had Zone Conference last Tuesday which was really uplifting. It's always great to meet with other missionaries in the area and hear their experiences and be reminded of the things that will help us continue to be better missionaries. The Sisters in Örebro called me and asked if I would play the piano for them to sing. They sang, "Abide with Me" and did a nice job. Our message from President was much needed. He talked about how there are fewer missionaries in Sweden right now than there have been and yet how we need to continue to work hard and not have that show in the work here. I'm really grateful for conferences we have and the boost that it gives to the work.

We continue to meet with George, Michael, and Yvonne. They are all three doing well. Michael went with us to the Abril's on Thursday night with Lawal also. It was great! We ate and then talked about the Restoration all together. It's great that all of our members are so willing to help with the work here.

We also started riding bikes here last week. So funny story...last Monday...during our P-Day...we wanted to take out our bikes so that I could get comfortable before we started riding around our entire area. We took the bikes out...which was great until Sis. Maxwell totally biffed it...when we had been out about 10 minutes. She was a little upset about the fall...but no real serious damage was done. I think the Lord really is protecting me from myself on the mission. That totally would have been me if my back was normal...etc. :) I'm really enjoying riding bikes...even though my rear end is sore all the time from the "skinny man" seat that I am riding on. We bought a "cushier woman" today...we'll see if that makes the riding a little more comfortable. :)

Other than that, we are excited for this week. We are having our Music Evening on Sunday...with a Russian Choir singing, Lawal (our new member) playing the African drums...and Sis. Maxwell playing a flute solo or two. I love that she is a musician. It's awesome to be able to involve her in the Music Night. We will have dinner before again that we can invite all of our investigators to. Our ward loves to be involved with it. It's great!

I started studying Preach My Gospel...again...with a proselyting Book of Mormon...I'm taking each chapter and going through, reading, studying, and pondering all of the scriptures it suggests for using when teaching. It's been really awesome! I'm amazed that even though I've read Preach My Gospel at least 3 times on my mission...that I can continue to study from it, and learn more, and gain a deeper understanding of the gospel. I still love my study time and appreciate it.

The work is going well. I'm healthy...happy...det är härligt ute....and we are going into Stockholm today to check out some of the sights. I hope you all have a great week this week. I know this is the work of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. I know that when we rely on Him, we are happy and can some day return to live with Heavenly Father. I am so grateful for all of you...your examples and the things that you have each taught me. I know God lives, and that He loves us!

Love,

Sister Suzanne Wood

Woody the Woodpecker....by Sis. Wood (Monday, April 12)

2010-04-14T22:57:00.000-07:00

Family and Friends,

I just wanted to briefly mention the wonderful sound I hear every morning when I wake up....yes, that's right...we have a woodpecker that has found a nice place in a VERY near by tree that likes to grace us with his presence all the time! It's really not that bad.

It's been cold...and warm here in Jakobsberg. The birds are out and chirping, and Spring is in the air. We had a great week this week. It's been awesome.

The highlight of last week was definitely Lawal's baptism. We had everything planned well, and it all went very well. He made us a little nervous when he came late...but he was there, and he was baptized with proper authority into the Church of Jesus Christ. There was a wonderful spirit in the meeting and he bore his testimony of the truthfulness of the gospel and it was great to be able to be a part of that. I'll attach a couple of pics. so you can all see who he is. Then yesterday he was confirmed as a member and it was awesome.

We had the members involved a lot in the baptism which was really good. Otherwise, our week was great. We have several new investigators who seem very positive and we pray that they will continue to have a desire to learn about the gospel. There are so many things that can happen between a 1st and a 2nd teach...sometimes it's really hard to tell if we will have the opportunity to teach some people again. We always hope that we will. :)

We will be having another Music Fireside here in 2 weeks. I love planning the programs and performing wonderful music. It has been a great way for the members to invite people and I hope we continue to see more and more people come and feel the Spirit in the church. We have Zone Conference tomorrow...already....and are looking forward to being uplifted by the messages there.

My letter is a little short this week, but I just want all of you to know that I have a strong testimony of the gospel. It blesses our lives. We are given so many blessings when we are faithful to the teachings of the Savior and the commandments we have been blessed with. I hope you all have a great week!

Love,

Sister Suzanne Wood

Glad Påsk! (Tuesday, April 6)

2010-04-14T22:55:00.000-07:00

Hejsan, hejsan!!!

This week has been great in Jakobsberg! We were able to see conference both Saturday and Sunday and I of course enjoyed every minute of it. It's like a super treat to get to go and listen to the words prophets for two days as a missionary. I learned so much, and received so much inspiration as I was there. We were not able to email yesterday because all of the libraries were closed. We were given permission to do it today...so here's my little note. :)

The highlights of last week were of course conference, and while at conference, we had a very awesome surprise. This story goes back a little ways...Ok....one of my first weeks here in Jakobsberg, Sis. Smith and I were walking home at the end of the evening. We saw a young man from far off and I decided we needed to stop and talk to him. As we did, we found out that he was not active in any church, that he has many questions about religion and that he was busy with work. We left him with a pamphlet and off we went. Then, during the rest of last transfer, we would see Jude once in a while, and just say hi in passing. One time at the train station, we stopped chatted a little bit and he ended up getting OUR number. Not exactly what we were hoping for, but now we knew he could get a hold of us if he wanted to. Well, last week, we saw him on the bus, and just said hi. No bid deal so we thought. Well, on Sunday, during conference we got a text from Jude saying that he wants to come to church. We set up an appt. and met with him today to teach him about the Restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. He was very happy to have the Book of Mormon, and said he would read and pray. He said he would also come to church this sunday. It was so amazing to me to see how the Lord puts people in our paths...sometimes who are not ready the first...or the second...or even the third time we meet them, but the Lord is preparing them to accept the gospel. That was a strong testimony builder for me when it comes to the importance of finding.

We also were able to meet with Lawal and he is ready for baptism!! He is getting baptized on Saturday and we are so excited for him. He is from Nigeria, and is trying to follow God. He lived in the UK for a couple of years and is now here in Sweden. He is honest, and doing all he can to obey God's commandments. He came to two sessions of General Conference and loved what he saw. The prophets talk was really wonderful and it was such a cool opportunity to invite people to listen to the prophets voice. We taught Lawal about tithing last night, and at first we asked him what he knew about tithing....the first thing he said was...."Well that's that we pay 10% of our earnings to build the church." Sis. Maxwell looked at each other later and thought...we didn't really need to teach him about it...we invited him to pay tithing and he is willing to do so. We feel that he is ready and will be a great addition to the church in Jakobsberg.

Everything is good with Sis. Maxwell! She is a wonderful missionary and we are teaching better together all the time, and she is a quick learner. She and I get along well, and laugh a lot together. I am doing everything I can to help her first transfer on the mission go well and help her feel comfortable with every aspect of the work.

Easter was great. We saw a little bit of easter traditions when we were out tracting the other day. One of the things we saw were little girls...with face paint on their cheeks...who are supposed witches who knocked on doors and then said, "Glad Påsk!" They had baggies and were waiting for candy in response. I feel that Sweden on this holiday has confused their traditions with one of our other holidays. They also have birch sticks everywhere with colored feathers on them...I don't know why. Somebody said it's something to do with the beginning of spring. Everybody takes the birch branches and the leaves come out on them as a sign of spring. Pretty cool.

I'm doing really well. I am healthy and very happy. I love the work. I love the people I serve. I love my companion. I'm just full of love! :) I hope that all of you know how much I love and appreciate you. I feel eternally blessed to have such a wonderful family and friends. Please take care! I hope you all had a wonderful Easter weekend. I of course thought much of the Savior Jesus Christ, His Atonement and then Resurrection. I feel so blessed to know of the truthfulness of the events that took place. We are God's children. I know that to be true. I know we can all receive the knowledge of the Saviors' Atonement in our lives.

Much love,

Sister Suzanne Wood

A New Beginning! (Monday, March 29)

2010-04-14T22:54:00.000-07:00

Hallå allihopa!

This week has been awesome. I mentioned last week that I will be training a new missionary this transfer. And now I know who she is and that we are going to have a great transfer together.

My new companion is Sister Maxwell. (No relation to Elder Maxwell.) She is from Cary, North Carolina. It's just outside of Raleigh...and she is awesome. She comes from a family with 4 brothers....the only girl. She went to school at BYU and graduated with a degree in Anthropology. She's been to Guatemala a couple of summers so she knows some spanish...it's awesome she will be serving here in Jakobsberg with me! Half of the ward are spanish speakers. She lived in California for a while working and then decided to come on a mission. She is good at swedish and is already a great missionary. We get along well and will have a great transfer.

I'll let you know more about her as we get to know eachother during our time together. :)

Otherwise, the work here in Jakobsberg is going well. We are starting a Swedish Class here tomorrow...which we both pray people come to. We done a lot of advertising and hope that we will have people come and learn Swedish...and also the gospel. We will also have another music night during the transfer...at least one. They are successful here and the ward really enjoys them. We will put our focus on the ward inviting people to the next one.

We also will be having a baptism in Jakobsberg on April 10th. Lawal is going to be baptized. He has accepted the gospel and wants to be baptized in the Lord's church. He knows the Book of Mormon is true and that Joseph Smith is a prophet of God. He has a great foundation to build upon. We are working hard to help him continue to progress to baptism. The ward is really trying to take care of our investigators which we are really grateful for. I know that makes the difference!!!

All of the new missionaries that came into Sweden are awesome. One sad thing right now is that the number of missionaries in Sweden continues to be lower and lower. There are many missionaries going home every transfer and not as many coming in. We have had many areas close over the last several months and we that are here continue to work like there are still as many missionaries here as have been. We have new Standards of Excellence in the Mission...that are higher than they were last year, but with fewer missionaries. I know that as we apply ourselves we can continue to see success here.

I hope that all of you have a great week. I am really excited for General Conference this weekend. It is always a blessing to hear the words of the Prophet and Apostles. I hope you all get the opportunity to watch or listen as well. Have a great week!

Love,

Sister Suzanne Wood

Transfer Info. (Tuesday, March 23)

2010-04-14T22:50:00.000-07:00

Hejsan min fantastisk familj och vänner!!!

It's been a great week here in Jakobsberg. Sis. Smith and I have had much to do, and we are grateful for all the success we've had here in Jakobsberg. It's trying to be Spring here in Sweden...but sometimes failing at the attempts. We had another Music Fireside on Sunday evening... which went really well...but not as many people came....I think due to the huge snow storm we had all day Sunday. It still went well and I was grateful for the opportunity we had to share music with members in the ward.

We found out about transfers this morning at 9:30am...Sis. Smith will be returning to Göteborg for next transfer. She was there her first transfer and is really excited to go back. She has missed it very much ever since she came here and feels it is a very tender mercy that she gets the opportunity to serve in Göteborg again. I will be staying in Jakobsberg and training a new missionary fresh out of the MTC. I am excited for the opportunity to train again. Let's be honest...I feel a little bit more prepared to train this time around than I did the first time. I am sure my new companion and I will have a great transfer. We have a lot of potential here and some really awesome things going on.

We have continued to meet with Lawal. I don't know how much I have mentioned about him, but he is really positive and we are meeting him twice a week and he is really accepting of everything we teach. He needs to be better about coming to church, but yesterday he brought up being born again...and we talked about baptism and why it's important to be baptized into our church even though he's been baptized before. He was open and accepting to the idea...and I really feel that he will continue to progress toward baptism. His friend who we have taught....John has been in England, but he is just as positive as Lawal.

We also were able to meet with Francis yesterday...he is an awesome investigator who comes to church every week and to our game night on Wed. evenings. He feels like he is already a member of the church. As an opposite reaction from Lawal....Francis doesn't see why he needs to be baptized...we will be working on how to help him see the importance of baptism and why the Lord requires us to be baptized. He is still very positive and we hope to help him progress toward baptism.

I got to see Tina last week, and she is doing really well. She continues to feel peace about her decision to be baptized and she is just wonderful! After we stopped by Tina's, we continued on our way to the temple in Västerhaninge. It was a little stressful because we were told by the office that there was a session that started at 5, 6, and 7 in the evening...and we got there at 5 thinking that we were early and everything...wrong! There are only 5 and 7 sessions unless there is a big group coming to have a 6 session. The temple matron let us know they would hold the session for us...we ran in...got dressed in 2 min. and went to the session. It was really nice...especially after we relaxed and could feel the Spirit in the temple. There truly is so much peace there. I am grateful I was able to go again so soon. :)

Other than that, everything for me is going well. I'm happy, healthy and ready for another transfer. There is much to be done here, and the work of the Lord continues to move forward. I hope you all have a great week. I feel so blessed to have such a wonderful family. Thanks for the support! I hope you all have a great week!

Love,

Sister Suzanne Wood

Pics from Stockholm

2010-03-21T14:32:00.000-07:00

Semlor bulle....a really popular Swedish pastry this time of year.

Swedish Capri-Sun...it's called Capri-Sonne here.

Tina's baptism...Sis. Swenson, me and Tina

The ice floating on the river in Stockholm with the City Hall in the background

New email.... (Mon., March 15)

2010-03-21T14:29:00.000-07:00

Dear Family and Friends,

This last week we were informed that we will no longer be using g-mail for our emailing purposes. I have a new email address which is: suzanne.wood@myldsmail.net. That is the email I will be communicating from for the rest of my mission. Please start sending your emails to this address because I won't check the gmail address I have anymore.

Ok...enough of the technical information. This last week was amazing! I will spend most of my letter talking about Tina's baptism because it was SO awesome. As far as the work goes in Jakobsberg, everything is going well. We are teaching some really positive investigators and we found another inactive member we are going to start getting together with and teaching. Everything with Sis. Smith and me is good and we are looking at the last week and a half of this transfer. How quickly time is going...

We were able to teach Yvonne twice last week, and she has been in church and I think she is really dedicated to knowing the church is true and her activity in the church. We will continue to teach her and see when it will be possible for her to get baptized.

We also continue to teach John, Lawal, and Francis who are all positive investigators. John and Lawal agreed to do an "experiment" with us...which includes them reading and praying every day and also coming to church for the next four weeks. They were both more than happy to do all of those things and we will see them tonight and teach them about obedience. They are awesome!

Now for the real joy of the week. On Saturday, we were able to go to Gubbängen for Tina's baptism. Both Sis. Swenson and I were able to make it for that and it was amazing. On Friday, Elder Ahola called...he's one of the Elders serving in Stockholm right now...and he asked if I would talk at Tina's baptism about the Holy Ghost. I of course was glad to do that...and don't worry...I cried through the whole talk. The Spirit was incredibly strong. Sis. Swenson and I also were able to do a musical number. She played I Know that My Redeemer Lives on the Viola and I accompanied her on the piano. It sounded really nice...so I hear. :) And then I was the one who helped Tina where to go and what to do when she was baptized and it was so amazing to see her take that step. She did it!!! She got baptized!! I honestly don't think I have ever felt more joy in my life than when I watched a woman who has completely changed her life enter the waters of baptism and be willing to follow the Savior. What a blessing it is for me to have been able to teach her those six months I was in Stockholm. I know the Lord has everything to do with her conversion...but I am so grateful He saw fit to let me be a part of it. The entire evening I had a huge smile on my face and was just so happy for her. I know she will receive so many blessings because of her decision to be baptized in the church. She stood up and bore her testimony after she had been baptized, and she was so strong...and sure about what she had done...it was amazing. Two of her daughters came...neither of them are members...and her friend Susanne...who gave us her number to begin with came and talked about the blessing of the gospel in her life. All I can think of is the wonderful things that will come in the future because of this one soul who was baptized. Amazing!!

It has just strengthened my testimony even more of the truthfulness of this work. I know that the church is led by Jesus Christ. I know that He knows each of us and loves us and is aware of where we are, what we need, and knows how to help us. I am so lucky to be in Sweden serving here and helping people come to Christ. I am excited for transfers. I don't know what will happen. There are four new sisters coming in for next transfer...so maybe I will train...maybe I will move...maybe Sis. Smith and I will stay together. We just don't really know...and just a reminder...our P-Day is Wednesday of next week.

I hope you all have a great week. The weather can't decide if it's Spring yet...or still Winter. It's sunny...but freezing outside. I appreciate the support you all give me. Take care and have a great week!

Love,

Sister Suzanne Wood

Spring.....is hopefully here. :) (Mon., March 8)

2010-03-09T12:15:00.000-08:00

Dear family!

It's finally felling a little warmer today! We'll see if it stays warm or if we're back in the negatives tomorrow. I actually took my scarf off on the way to the library....yahoo!!! I'm so grateful for the sun. :)

We had a good week last week. We were able to find two inactive members who were positive about meeting with us....so awesome. We were also able to meet with some other positive new investigators. One really sad thing happened yesterday and that is that we tried to go by Peter who was going to get baptized on Saturday...because we have not had any contact with him for a couple of weeks and he didn't answer the door. We have tried to call and text...and go by and we are not sure what happened but we had to drop him yesterday. Really sad. It's hard to see that sometimes people still choose to reject the gospel even if they have received a witness of it's truthfulness. We all need to continue to show our dedication to the gospel at all times. It's so important.

We also have a new investigator who has actually been baptized before into the church. We are taking it really slow with her to make sure that she does not get baptized again just to be baptized. Her name is Yvonne. She was a member about 20 years ago but didn't stay a member for very long. She seems sincere in her desire to come back, but we want to be sure that she will be active. Our activity in the church is so important. As we all do our part and serve each other...that's how the church continues to function. Our church is not a sit back and relax kind of church. We are a working church. Everybody does their part to help things move forward and function well. I'm continually amazed at the inspiration and structure of our church...that it is perfect...and that it is set up in God's way and that is why it works. Such a blessing.

Otherwise, everything has been good here in Jakobsberg. I'm going to send some pics. next week of the place where I live now, and Tina's baptism. She is getting baptized this Saturday. I'm SO excited!!!! It will be wonderful to see her take this step...and then to find out that she is going to the temple will be the frosting on the cake.

We have Sharpening tomorrow and then our transfer ends in 2 weeks. We are not sure at all what will happen at transfers, but we have 6 sisters leaving to go home and 4 new sisters coming in. The group of sisters I'm in becomes the oldest on the mission. Crazy stuff!! There's not a whole lot more to say this week. I'm so grateful to be out here doing the Lord's work. It's worth the ups and downs. All the struggle is so worth it when the joy of somebody accepting the gospel comes. It's an incredible blessing to know that this church is true. That I know that it comes from God. I'm grateful for my testimony. I hope you all have a great week! Take care!

Love,

Sister Suzanne Wood

Pics

2010-03-09T12:06:00.000-08:00

At the Coca-Cola Factory in Stockholm

utfart is such a funny word...hahaha....

with Sister Smith at a baptism

What a week, a work, and a wonder!! (Mon., March 1)

2010-03-09T12:05:00.000-08:00

Dear Family,

It has been a wonderful week. I have to say the highlight for me was yesterday. It was incredibly stressful, but everything we did went really well. We had our Music Fireside last night, and because we wanted our investigators to be there and wanted them to get to know ward members, we let people know that we would be making dinner after church for those who would like to stay...and expecially for those who live too far away to go home and come back to the music concert. Well, we made spaghetti to the best of our ability. I am still not very good and making meals for large groups. It's hard to know exactly how much to make, but we made enough for everybody to have a nice plate of s-ghetti, some veggies and some breadsticks I made. We got help from a couple of members in the process and everything ended up going well.

Then, we waited for the Music Fireside to begin....waiting for the Elders from different areas to come and participate....and well practice before the evening began....and they all got there, and the program went really well. I actually ended up singing "Climb Every Mountain" from Sound of Music...and When You Believe with a girl named Sandra Miranda in our ward. I also accompanied most of the numbers, there were a couple of others who played and sang and we asked a few members to bear their testimony of music also. We had about 50-60 people who came to the evening and it was awesome. We had between 10-15 non-members there and we are going to do another fireside in 3 weeks and stress even more what a great opportunity it is for the members to invite their friends to come. It gives them the opportunity to be in the church and feel the Spirit without a formal "teaching situation." I am excited that last night went so well. I think it will bring us much success if the members will invite their friends and family and give us the opportunity to invite people to learn about the gospel.

Other than that, we had a good week. We were not able to meet with Peter, who is supposted to get baptized on Saturday and he said he would come to church yesterday but didn't end up coming. We are really bummed about that, and feel that he is not quite ready to be baptized. He has gotten a job...which is really good, but he is much busier and it has been a challenge to meet. It's disappointing, but it's really important that he is ready to keep the commitments he makes and to keep them in order for him to be baptized and make a covenant with Heavenly Father.

We also taught Alex and Alexis, a father and son from Cuba about the Word of Wisdom. The teach went pretty well, but they are not yet ready to commit to living that commandment. We are prayerfully trying to know how to help them experiment on the word and see what the difference can be in their lives with those substances that are not good.

Otherwise, we went to the Coca Cola Factory in Jordbro, Sweden last Monday for P-Day. It was pretty awesome. It is the only Factory in the whole country so all the Coke Products in Sweden are made there. It's incredible how much soda they make in such a quick amount of time. We also got to do the Experience Center...which is team game thing. Our team won, so that was awesome.

We've had a good week. My body is tired, and pretty sore, but the Lord continues to take care of me and help me do the work. I'm ready for Spring...or Summer. It continues to get lighter outside, but the snow keeps coming. I hope all of you are doing well. I hope you have a great week!

Love,

Sister Suzanne Wood

Good Week! (Mon., Feb. 22)

2010-02-23T11:39:00.000-08:00

Dear Family and Friends,

We had a great week this week. We had the most teaches in Jakobsberg last week that I have had during my whole mission in Sweden! We were able to meet with all of our investigators and many of our teaches we were able to have members come with us. Their testimonies are irreplaceable. We were able to teach Swedish Class and teach participants in Swedish Class about the gospel afterwards. We had a baptism happen yesterday in our ward and we have had much to do here this last week.

I don't have tons of time today, but I just want to talk a little about Spencer's baptism yesterday. We were able to teach him and get him ready for baptism, and then the big day came and the program was so nice. He had asked Sis. Smith and I to give the talks about baptism and the Holy Ghost. I talked about the Holy Ghost at the baptism. It was really wonderful to be there. Then, Spencer wanted to have a song sung at the baptism...but not just any song. He wanted us to sing, "The Lord commanded Nephi to go and get the plates...etc." or "Nephi's Courage." We had a couple of Elders sing it with us and it went really well also. And of course, most importantly, when we went into the font and Spencer was actually baptized the Spirit was there very strongly. It was such a special afternoon and I'm so glad that I could be a part of it.

We also were able to teach Peter and he is still progressing. He hasn't been in church because he's been sick, but we pray that he will come this week and continue to progress toward his baptism in 2 weeks.

We have been able to teach many new people also and we are always excited to get the opportunity to teach those who are interested. We have lots going on this week with the music program on Sunday. I know it will go well, but it does have it's stresses that accompany such an event. I hope that the Spirit will be there and that those who come will feel that Spirit and want to know why it is there. I am so grateful for all that I am doing here in Sweden. There are so many blessings...and many of them can't be seen until later.

Speaking of blessings...there is some really exciting news I forgot to write about last week. I'm sure you all remember Tina who I have talked about so many times from Stockholm. Well, she is getting baptized!!!!!! I am so excited for her! The Elders who moved to Stockholm went and taught her and invited her again to be baptized and she accepted their invitation. She tells them all the time that she wants us to be there....which of course Sis. Swenson and I will be. I am just so glad that she decided to take the step that the Lord wants her to take to come closer to Him than she has ever been before.

Another blessing is that this last week I found out that Segen...who I talked to one of my first weeks in Norrköping....way back when is also getting baptized on the same day that Tina is getting baptized. I can't express the joy I feel that these wonderful people who I have gotten to know...and teach have progressed and are being baptized into the Lord's church. It's amazing that when I left Norrköping I was so sad to not get to teach Segen to baptism....and the same when I left Stockholm.....but I am so incredibly grateful for the knowledge I have the the Lord knows and loves each one of His children and He provides exactly what they need to come back to Him. I know that these two wonderful women are not being baptized because of what I did....I know very well that the Lord completes His work through us as His servants.

It's still freezing here...they say it's the worst it's been in 40 years or something....as it sounds like it is ALL over the world. We are just trying to continue plugging along and keep ourselves warm. We have lots going on this week and will hopefully see a little warmer temperatures than what we have been seeing the last couple of days. I hope you are all doing well. I am loving the work. I love Jakobsberg. I love my companion and I love the opportunity to serve. Have a great week and know that you are all in my prayers!

Love,

Sister Suzanne Wood

Love is in the air....or snow is in the air...which one is it?? (Mon., Feb. 15)

2010-02-23T11:37:00.000-08:00

Kära Familj och Vänner,

It's definitely snow is in the air....and wind....ok...I'm getting a little more sick all the time of the freezing cold temperatures we are having here in Sweden. I know that everywhere in the world is suffering from what seems to be a winter to be reckoned with...but come on....does it have to keep being so cold?? We have heard from many of the Swedish people that this is the coldest winter they have seen in YEARS....and Steph even told me she went running in the snow in Dallas, TX....what is the world coming to?? Ok....I just needed to let out a little frustration on the weather. I'll get over it now. :)

As for the important part of why I am here...I am loving the work in Jakobsberg. It is tough, but so wonderful. Sis. Smith and I have definitely had our ups and downs but we do get along really well and laugh really hard between the times we are frustrated with each other. The work here has been good this last week. We had many really good teaches with investigators and members in the ward. We were able to also teach some new people this week as well. The Lord is continuing to bless us...in our imperfections. I can't even begin to explain how many times I have felt that I am unfit to do the Lord's work...as we all feel sometimes. I can say...on the other hand, that the Lord truly qualifies us for the things He needs us to do. There is no doubt in my mind that like Ammon, "As to my strength I am weak, but in the strength of the Lord I can do all things...I will glory in my God forever...." I continue to be reminded of my need for the Savior and His Atonement. We all have so many strengths and wonderful blessings in our lives, but we also have been given weaknesses to work on and trials to fight our way through so that we could each realize the need for the Savior in our lives and turn to him. Without a personal witness and testimony of the Atonement...it doesn't mean nearly as much. I have really been realizing that more and more in my own life and as I have been teaching others about it.

As for cool things that happened this week...we were talking with the Elders in Stockholm and they said they had a referral for us about two weeks ago. They told us that this woman named Gege wanted a Book of Mormon in Mongolian...but that she can't really speak Swedish or English. I was not especially positive about it since we didn't know how we were going to be able to communicate with her. Well a few days ago, we called and set up an appt. for Sunday. She could communicate enough to say we could come yesterday evening. Well, when we called to say that we would be a little bit late, I didn't really talk to Gege, but the phone had been handed to a Swedish man...we visited a bit and he said it was fine if we came a little later. Well, come to find out, this man that Gege lives with is a Swedish man from a small town called Skövde...where about 20 years ago he went to our church once or twice and heard a little bit about what we believe from the missionaries who served there at that time. We continued to chat..and remembers Joseph Smith....the Book of Mormon...Salt Lake City....etc. Gege was so incredibly grateful for a book about Christ because she has not had the opportunity to learn about Him with her Buddhist background.

We will be going back on Wed. to give Jorgen a Swedish Book of Mormon and teach them both of the blessings and restoration of the gospel. It was such an amazing testimony builder of God's awareness of all of His children. He knew that the way we would beet Jorgen would be through Gege. What a blessing!

We also taught Peter, Francis, and Spencer during last week. All of them are still progressing and doing really well. Spencer is going to be baptized on Sunday...and we are really excited about that. He is such a good kid, and is really excited about his baptism. Peter is still doing really well. He is so willing to keep his commitments and has a strong desire to follow the Savior. We pray that he continues to progress toward his baptism on the 6th of March. From the teaches we have had with Francis, we can tell that he is sincere and genuine in his desire to do what is right. The problem is that he works on Sundays....so he can't get to church. That is such an important part of the commitment we make that we want to make sure that he will be able to be active if he becomes a member of the church.

Otherwise, all of the members in our ward are awesome. We have a wonderful ward mission leader who is doing all he can to get the ward members to do more missionary work. There's a ward mission plan...and wonderful members who are willing to go to teaches with us, and make refreshments for our music evening we have coming up...and I'm just grateful that I feel like the ward supports what we are doing. We are continuing to try to think of ways to help them do the work because we know they want to.

I'm healthy and happy. Some days are really hard. Some days are completely amazing. Everyday is worth it. The things I am learning...and the things I am teaching are of eternal worth...and that makes all that I am doing here worth it. I know that Heavenly Father loves us. I hope you all had a wonderful Valentine's Day....it wasn't celebrated much here...but we had a wonderful Sabbath Day. I hope that this next week goes well and that you all continue to know that you are in my prayers and that I miss and love all of you!

Love,

Sister Suzanne Wood

Hur många välsignelser kan vi få??

2010-02-08T17:32:00.000-08:00

Dear Family and Friends,

It's been a great week here in Jakobsberg. We have been so blessed this last week. The Lord really is mindful of us and He knows where we are, what we're doing and He blesses us with what we need to continue in His path...and His work.

I felt really blessed yesterday to sit in a Sacrament Meeting where many of those stood up spoke of their conversion through the missionaries knocking on their door. They are strong, active members here in Sweden...and they were reached by two missionaries knocking on doors. It was amazing and really uplifting to hear their testimonies.

Last week, we were able to teach Peter who is getting baptized on March 6th. When we went to teach him, there was a friend of his roommate...just hanging out. We invited him to listen in on the teach and by the end he told us he wanted to come to church and even try fasting on Sunday. It was amazing. Peter was in church yesterday and shows his humility and willingness to follow the commandments all the time.

We are still working on putting together out Music Concert as well. It's going to be on the 28th of this month and we are excited about all the people we are involving...I'm also excited to get to sing a little bit myself....but that's just a bonus. :) We will have lots of different music and I'm just really looking forward to that. We have put quite a bit of time into planning for that and working with different people to help them practice and know what to sing.

We have also gotten the opportunity to work with Spencer...who's getting baptized in just 2 weeks. It's wonderful to see his excitement and enthusiasm about the gospel. Every time we teach him, he listens and is excited to learn. I know that the decision he is making will be a wonderful blessing throughout his life...and will truly bless his family now.

We have also taught a couple of new investigators as well. Last week, in the library, there was a man named Francis who came up and talked to me. He had seen my name tag and wanted to know what we were all about. We talked for a minute there and then said we could meet him later on in the week. A couple of days later...he called us and told us about a dream he had where we saved him from a fire in a building. I will not say that I was not a little confused about what the meaning was...but it had sincerely meant a lot to him that we were saving him. We met with him on Friday and had a wonderful conversation about the Restoration on the gospel. He texted us later to thank us for the new view he has received of God and that there is the potential for Francis to find out for himself the true gospel of Christ. It was awesome!

Sis. Smith and I are getting along well. We are alike in many ways...so we have a lot of fun together. We also have had our challenges as new companions. We are learning all the time how to be understanding with eachother and help eachother be the best missionaries we can be. I really am learning to love this area. The ward members are wonderful and there is much work to do here. I hope you all have a great week. Take care of yourselves! Have a wonderful Valentine's Day..or Alla Hjärtans Dag....and remember that the Lord loves us all and wants us to be happy.

Love,

Sister Suzanne Wood

Winter Pics

2010-02-01T08:22:00.001-08:00

Here are some new Winter pics that Suz sent from Sweden.

Winter trees in Sweden

The Stockholm temple covered in snow

Suz with Sister Swenson

Suz and Kathy, a Taiwanese investigator

Suz with her district before the transfer

Suz and her new companion, Sister Smith

Done with Winter!

2010-02-01T08:20:00.000-08:00

Dear Family,

Everything in Jakobsberg has been great! We have had a good week. We are getting to know each other better all the time and enjoying the work here. It has taken some adjustment for me to be here, but I truly love the people here and this place is full of potential. We taught several less active members last week, taught a few investigators and are doing our best to find those other people who are prepared to listen to the gospel to teach. There is tons of tracting to do in this area...it is a very big area.

One of the main differences with Jakobsberg and Stockholm...in the city...is port codes. That being that you can't go into a building without a code. In the city, we couldn't tract at all because everything has codes...in Jakobsberg...there are many places we can go in without a problem. So, we have been doing more of that kind of work here. We are still organizing our music night and getting the help of several other missionaries in the area to help us to make the evening successful.

I love Sis. Smith!!! She is hilarious. She loves to joke around and so as you all know...I am quick to joke right back with her. We are getting along well and learning to do the work together. There is always adjustment...when with somebody 24 hrs. of everyday. We are both excited about the transfer though and doing all we can to be the best missionaries we can be.

This week, we taught our investigator Peter...who is getting baptized about the 10 commandments. Sis. Smith and Sis. Williams taught him the Word of Wisdom last time, so when we went there to teach him, we took him some herbal tea. He was completely willing to take it and pick a tea that is allowed and also let me take the rest of his black tea to throw it away. He is sincere and has a strong desire to follow the commandments. I am excited that he has decided to be baptized.

We also have taught several less-active members this week. Many of them are part-member families which is a wonderful opportunity for us to teach the family members as well. There is this completely wonderful lady name Hillevi in our ward. Her husband is not a member and her three daughters are not members either. We went over there Saturday to have dinner and were able to talk a little about the Plan of Salvation with them. Then, we went yesterday and were able to visit with two of Hillevi's daughters about the church a little bit. I'm not going to say that they will be baptized tomorrow...but I will say that the understanding they gain of the church will help them to support Hillevi and that there is always the possibility to something hitting them about the gospel.

Stephanie...one of the daughters...asked us what our target is when we knock on somebody's door. As she joked she said...do you get points if someone lets you in....do you get points if you give them a book....and what was so awesome was getting to tell her that our "target" is to help people. It's to listen to them...and what they already believe and see if there is a way that the gospel will help them have a better life. I feel that is really true. There are many people here who reject us...who don't want to listen. But, we always find the humble and willing and those people truly are searching for something to help them have better lives. What an honor it is for me to be the Lord's servant.

Other than that, we had some really wonderful opportunities this week. We spend a lot of time on busses and trains...and walking...so it is challenging to always feel like we are productive...but we're figuring it out. I love this work. And...as you can see...I'm done with the winter. We still have a few more weeks of the cold...but I'm ready for the ice to go away and for it to start warming up. We'll see what happens with the Groundhog tomorrow...not that I will find out if he sees his shadow or not. :P

I hope all of you are doing well. I love you all. I appreciate the support you have given me. Have a great week!

Love,

Sister Suzanne Wood

Love Jakobsberg (Mon., January 25)

2010-01-31T19:39:00.000-08:00

Kära Familj och Vänner,

The rest of last week went really well. I am getting adjusted to my new area...and figuring out what needs to be done here to help as many as possible come to Christ. I really like my new companion Sister Smith. I might have said already...but she is from Salt Lake, has also graduated from college...she went to the U and got a degree in Family and Consumer Science, and is a really dedicated missionary and wants to do the very best she can on the mission. I'm excited to continue to get to know her better and I know that we will accomplish a lot of gooe here in our area over the next several weeks.

As far as the area is concerned...our area is called Jakobsberg, but it covers several different areas of north western Stockholm. We take the pendeltåg....commuter trains...and tunnelbana....the metro often. There are also busses and a lot a walking we do. I feel like I have completely changed areas because of the different nature of Jakobsberg. There are lots of hills...it's more like the countryside. There are homes all over the place and it takes quite a while to get anywhere. We will need to figure out how to be most effective....being as there is so much travel time.

The work that has been done here over the last several months has been mostly with less-active members. There was a baptism last transfer...and we have 2 baptismal dates for this transfer!!! One of them is a man named Peter...whom I haven't met yet...and the other is Spencer who is a little boy who's parents have been in-active for quite some time and his dad passed away recently. We will be teaching him the lessons and getting him ready for baptism. We have some really good ideas for the transfer. One thing the ward has done before is a music evening...there was a Sister who came a few years ago who was really musical and she helped to put together a music night at the chapel. Apparently they had 100 people come...and it was a real success. As soon as I mentioned that I like to sing...the Bishop pulled us aside and asked if that would be something we would like to put together again. I of course said yes! We will also be doing some finding work of course. They have had a lot of success with finding investigators through less-active members...so that is something we will continue to do. I actually have a list with me today...of 35 members who are on our ward list that we need to "find". There is much to be done here....not to mention that we will continue to go into Stockholm every few days and continue to teach Swedish Class....and help with the English Discussion Groups that have been started. There is a lot for the Elders to do there right now and President doesn't want anything to fall. We will be on double duty for a while and see how that goes.

I honestly have very mixed feelings about being so close to Stockholm and still working in that area. I feel rather torn between what I want to do...what needs to be done...and what the Lord needs us to do. I know that as we are prayerful...that we will be able to prioritize and take care of those things the Lord has intrusted us with. I am excited about the new area I'm in. The ward here has about 30 active members...so it's quite a bit smaller...but they are wonderful.

We spent quite a bit of our time the last few days planning for the transfer and getting ourselves organized with all that we will be doing. I am getting better with names of members, investigators...and getting from one place to another all the time. I really do like the change of scenery, and it will be really good for me to be with a different companion. New challenges...new things to learn and a whole new 9 weeks of fun.

I hope you have all had a nice week. I hope the winter has not been too harsh for any of you. :) We haven't really gotten any more snow here. It's just continue to be freezing temperatures...however....the sun is out more and more all the time which has been really nice. I've started to get a little cold...but hoping it will go away quickly. Othere than that I'm happy. I am so grateful for the gospel and the opportunity I have to be here serving the Lord and the people of Sweden. I see over and over again that we are needed here. The efforts we put forth are so little in the grand scheme of God's plan...but every thing I do to help someone is helping the work go forward. I love you all and hope you know I miss you and pray for you often!

Much love,

Sister Suzanne Wood

Time for Change (Wed., January 20)

2010-01-24T20:46:00.000-08:00

Dear Family and Friends,

This week has been completely crazy and busy. We have our P-Day today...which is why I didn't write on Monday. Thanks for all the emails you sent to me. I always appreciate hearing about what's going on at home. I'm just going to do a simple email this week, to update all of you on what's going on...and then I will send a longer...better email next week from my new area. :)

Just a little bit of background on transfers this week...we have many missionaries who are going home tomorrow and only 3 missionaries coming to Sweden. That has caused a need to shut down areas. With that knowledge...we have all been very interested to know what is going to happen with all of us. We heard through the grapevine that the Stockholm Elders apt. was going to shut down...so we have assumed that Sisters would be staying in Stockholm.

Well, when we found out about transfers we were shocked....because. The Elders will be the missionaries staying in Stockholm. Both Sis. Swenson and I have been transferred to different areas. Sister Swenson will be moving to Uppsala...about 1 1/2 hours north and I will be moving to Jakobsberg...which is about 10 miles down the road. I will continue to take care of some of the things in Stockholm and be moving areas to one of the outlying Stockholm areas this transfer. I will be companions with Sis. Smith, who has been on her mission for 4 months. She is from Salt Lake, and I think we will work well together. I still need to find out from Pres. Anderson what he wants us to continue in Stockholm and what he wants us to turn over to the Elders here. The other shock is that neither one of the Elders we have been working with here in Stockholm will be staying here. Elder Drake is going Zone Leader in Göteborg, and Elder Hanes will be going to Västerås and going Senior Companion. So...the last couple of days have been very stressful and very busy.

I'll just write a couple of highlights...

We have been teaching Swedish Classes for a while. Well, last night, we had 23 people come to Swedish Class. It was awesome! We are seeing some major things happeneing with our Language Classes here in Stockholm.

We have also started going into high schools here during the day and doing a presentation on America...the differences in culture, and all sorts of things. We then have invited them to an English Discussion Class that we will be having every Thursday...from there we hope to be able to influence some of these teenagers for good. It has been really successful and really fun...you all know how I like to be in front of a group teaching! :)

We have been able to see many of our investigators and members these last few days which has been really fun. We are very glad we have been able to run around and see those we have worked with since we are leaving the area...well sort of...

Other than that, I am happy, healthy and have very mixed feelings about leaving/staying in Stockholm. There will definitely be new challenges with a new companion...and then finding a balance with what we will continue to do in Stockholm and helping the Jakobsberg area to continue to be strengthened. I will miss the Stockholm Ward...they are all like family...but I'm excited to get to know the members in my new area.

I know that President Anderson is inspired in the decisions he makes with transfers. I'm so grateful for revelation and that we can know what we need to do to continue in the path that Heavenly Father knows will lead us back to him. I am excited for the new adventure I'm going to have.

I hope you all have a wonderful week! Time is flying by. I'm trying to take advantage of every minute I have. I love this work and am so blessed to get to be a part of it.

I love you all!

Love,
Sister Suzanne Wood

Pictures

2010-01-12T05:44:00.000-08:00

Here are some new pictures that Suz sent yesterday.

The view from our apartment

Sarah, a less active we've been working with! This was on Christmas Eve at the bishop's party.

Christmas tree!

Our district! Syster Wood, Syster Swenson, Syster Wright, Äldste Wright, Äldste Hanes, Äldste Drake

Sister Swenson and Me

The gingerbread house the elders made for us for Christmas. It's of our apartment. We have totally awesome elders to work with!

The Armor of God Gingerbread man that we made with a part-member family.

All the candy we got for Christmas....

Sister Swenson and me in our new matching pajamas that we got for Christmas

Sister Swenson and me

I love missionary work! (Monday, Jan. 11)

2010-01-12T05:43:00.000-08:00

Dear Family and Friends,

It has been a great week here in Stockholm. We decided before last week that we would have a Dedication Week for ourselves to get remotivated to work hard in 2010. It turned out to be awesome. As I think I have mentioned, our progressing investigators have all kind of gone away...so we did a lot of finding work last week. We spent many hours out contacting people on the streets, on the metro, knocking on doors, and any other way you can think of. As we went through the week, we tried to take every opportunity to invite people to learn about the gospel. Our goal was to find 3 new investigators last week. Well, despite all of our efforts we didn't have one new investigator when we went to church yesterday. We had also continued to pray to the Lord and direct our efforts.

Miracle #1

Well, when we got to church, Baasa, one of the new members of the church came and brought her non-member boyfriend. We have met him before but he was not so interested in the church. To our surprise...at the end of Sacrament meeting he said that he would like to stay for sunday school. We then invited him to meet with us during the week to learn more about the church, and he accepted.

Miracle #2

This miracle starts about 2 weeks ago. We got a referral from the office for a married couple who were contacted by a missionary in Spain a couple of weeks ago. We got the referral and tried calling last week to set up an appointment with Carlos and Clara. Well, middle of this week we set up an appt. to visit them last night. When we went there, they began to express their desire to come closer to God to help their marriage and relationship. They both want to be better people...when Clara asked if we wanted some tea, we told her we only drink herbal tea....she reponded with, "That's all we drink in our house." As the evening progressed, we found out that they are really seeking a relationship with God. We invited them to read the Book of Mormon, and we set up a return appointment with them. It was amazing!

My point with these examples is that Sis. Swenson and I contacted many people during the week who we tried to meet with and continued to work hard to find those 3 investigators. It is an incredible testimony builder that on Sunday...the last day of the week, that we would find our 3 investigators in situations where we did nothing to deserve them. I have no doubt that the Lord runs this work. He is aware of us, where we are, what we are doing, and then after he sees that we are willing to do whatever it takes to help in the work, he blesses us with miracles.

We had an awesome dedication week....and today is the beginning of Dedication Week returns. We only have a week and a half left in the transfer and we are going to work as hard as we can this last several days to find and teach as many as possible. I don't know what transfers brings, but we have a lot going on here. We started Swedish and English classes this last week, and we will start going to several high schools here in Stockholm to teach English classes there. We have new investigators and will continue to support and help our other investigators to progress.

I know this is the Lord's church on the earth. I was able to speak in church yesterday about the Holy Ghost, and I know that He does witness to us of the truth in our lives. We have the authority of the Savior Jesus Christ on the earth, and we are blessed for our faithfulness. I hope you have all had a good week. I hope this next week continues to be wonderful. I am happy and healthy and excited for what the future brings. We will also get to visit the temple this week...which I'm very excited about. :)

Have a wonderful week!

Love,

Sister Suzanne Wood

Välkommen 2010!! (Monday, Jan. 4)

2010-01-05T07:43:00.000-08:00

Min underbar familj och vänenr,

This last week has been one of new beginnings, fun, challenges, and of course work. We had a wonderful New Year's Eve and New Year's Day. We were again with the Bishop Karlsson and his family on New Year's Eve. We ate a wonderful meal and played a game for a while with their kids. They set off a few little fireworks for us to see and then drove us home. We were in bed by 10:30pm. So...as far as excitement on New Years....it was pretty calm for me this year. I did wake up at midnight because of all the noise the fireworks were making. They were VERY close to our apartment. I peeked out the window for a minute and could see a little bit of what was going on. Then, on the 1st, we were not able to do our normal missionary work with it being New Year's Day. We got planned for this week, got together with some other missionaries for a little while and got ourselves rested up for new year of hard work.

Right now one of our challenges is that all of our investigators are either sick, or depressed. It's been hard for us to teach all of them. I know that there is a very real "Seasonal Depression" that happens here because of the combination of cold and dark during these winter months. We are praying that the sun will be out a little more and that we won't have a long winter here in Sweden...to take away the sad feelings. Luckily, we have so much to do and stay so busy that the weather and darkness don't really affect us. We are happy to be here and glad we also have the gospel in our lives to continue giving us direction.

The highlight of this week would have to be on Saturday. There is a woman named Jasna who has been living with a member of our ward for quite some time. There was a challenge with getting her divorce final from a previous marriage and so they have been coming to church every week, and active...without her being a member because they have been living together. Well....on Saturday, we were able to attend their wedding...and this Saturday Jasna will be baptized!!! It is so wonderful to see how everything has worked out to their good and benefit. It is apparent to all of us that our Heavenly Father has heard her prayers, heard our prayers and has made it possible for them to be married...and one day sealed in the temple. I sang at the wedding and it was a really nice little service.

I have thought much this last couple weeks of what I would have as my New Year's Resolutions. As I pondered, I realized that there was a very LARGE list of things that I want to improve and make better during 2010. I have many mission goals I want to reach, and many personal goals as well. A couple days before the New Year...I had a feeling that I needed to choose just a couple of things to really focus on so that I did not overwhelm myself in the first week of my "new life" and quit everything because it was too much. So, I came up with a few select things I will be working on...and once I make those habits...and see improvement in those areas, then I can add more to it during the year. I feel very determined to be successful with my resolutions this year. I think it is in large part because I have learned how to set goals and make plans to reach my goals on my mission. I think it is all to easy to have a goal....but it is really only a wish when we don't make plans to reach our goals.

I hope you all have something you want to improve during the year. It's like President Eyring explained in his conference talk in October....that we as disciples of Christ need to always be improving. We should never feel like where we are is good enough. I really think that is good to remember.

As for me, I'm doing pretty well. The holidays were wonderful here. We got to be a part of all the Swedish traditions and had a wonderful time. On the other side of things...I feel like I haven't worked as hard as I would have liked to. We are starting a dedication week today to do all that we can to be better missionaries and again know that we are doing all we can to help others come unto Christ. I hope you have all had a wonderful week. I hope the New Year is going to be a good one. I am grateful for all that I have. I have thought a lot about my blessings, and the things I am so blessed with in this life.

I hope to have many successes during this week that I can write about next week. Know that I am well, and that I am so glad I am here doing the work of the Lord. There is nothing like it in all the world.

Love,

Sister Suzanne Wood

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!! (Monday, Dec. 28)

2010-01-05T07:41:00.000-08:00

Kära familj och vänner,

It has been a wonderful week here in Stockholm. Christmas was wonderful! I'll give a little bit of explanation about Christmas Eve with the Bishops Family...a real traditional Swedish Christmas, and then what we have been doing over the last couple of days. I hope you have all had a wonderful Christmas. I hope Santa was nice...but more importantly that you all could be with those you love, and celebrate the season together.

Ok, Christmas Eve...or Jul Afton....we went to the Bishops house about 1:00pm and helped get the last minute food prepared and ready to eat. Then, we ate Jul Bord....which is from a smörgåsbord...which we have taken to use in english as a buffet of many different options to choose from. Well, that's exactly what we had. We ate all the traditional Swedish Christmas food...here's just a few of the things: meat balls, salmon, pickled herring, mashed potatoes, cheese, bread, brussel sprouts, red cabbage surprise...I don't really know how it was prepared...., prince korv or fancy hot dogs, and barbecue ribs (I think that's something they just throw in), oh and jul skinka...which is a special Christmas ham with mustard and other stuff on the outside....very tasty.

So as you can see...we had a wonderful meal. After we ate, we played songs on the piano, sang, read the Christmas Story out of Luke, and watched Kalle Anka. Kalle Anka is Donald Duck in America. Here's the tradition...many years ago when there were no cartoons on the tv everyday like we have now, there was a special day....Christmas when they would play some of the old Disney classic cartoons on Christmas Eve for everybody to watch. Well, from then on, even though you could watch Disney here everyday....they still play some of the old Disney Classics as clips at 3:00pm every year on Christmas Eve. We got permission to watch it, and it was fun to see some of the oldies på svenska.

The evening continued with a visit from Jul Tomten....or Santa Clause. We each received a gift from him, and then we played games, ate a little dessert and visited the rest of the evening. It was wonderful. A lot of things were similar to the things we do at home, there were lots of us around the the whole day was really nice.

On Christmas, we had a nice Christmas Breakfast with some of the Sisters who live close to us. I make German Pancakes, and Sis. Swenson made a quiche. They both tasted really yummy. We also went to a dinner at the Glovers on Christmas which was really fun. Oh, and the highlight of the day was getting to talk to all of you!!!!! I'm so glad I got to hear all of you around the phone. It was so good to know...and hear that you are all doing well. I'm so glad I got to talk to you!

Other than that, we spent a lot of time on Saturday planning for this next week, and then yesterday we had church, and a dinner with some YSA's...to talk to them about missionary work. I really have had a wonderful week! I hope all of you have been able to rest a little bit, and that you have a wonderful week again this week.

Oh, by the way...in advance...Happy New Year....or Gott Nytt År! I'm sure 2010 will be awesome...please take care of yourselves and know that you are in my prayers. I am grateful for all the gifts, cards, thoughts and prayers you have all sent my way. I appreciate all the support you all give to me.

Love,

Sister Suzanne Wood

CHRISTMAS....JUL!!!!! (Monday, Dec. 21)

2010-01-05T07:40:00.000-08:00

Dear Family and Friends,

We have had a fantastic week! It has been full of many service activities, visits with investigators, visiting less active members, going caroling to 20 families in our ward (and more to come tonight :) ), and anything else you can think of that would be some kind of Christmas activity.

We feel very spoiled with the willingness of so many to have us over and spend some time with them!

I'll start with Zone Conference. We had our Christmas Zone Conference last Tuesday. We had a wonderful time. We had great messages from Pres. Anderson, the Assistants, and there was a nice Christmas Program we all participated in. We also ate a Christmas dinner with ham and potatoes and did a gift exchange. I received a set of Friendship bracelets. One of them says Friends...the other says Forever. I of course gave one of them to Sis. Swenson....it break about an hour later. Oh well, it was fun! And Sis. Swenson says that the bracelet breaking is NOT symbolic of our friendship. HAHA!

We were able to meet with Kristoffer and Marc also this week, which went well. Kristoffer has been really down lately and so it's been hard to meet with him. We had a good visit and I'm glad that we finally got to go see how he is doing. The teach with Marc went awesome! This is crazy though....we have been teaching him for over a month and we thought he was YSA age.....so late twenties....to maybe 35 being the oldest he would be. So, get this...we finally asked him how old he is.....42......stinking unbelievable!!! We were shocked. It of course doesn't matter how old he is, but that we were so off in our guesses is what is so crazy! He is doing well, but we haven't met with any of our investigators very consistently as of late...so their progress in the gospel hasn't been as easily detected. We continue to pray for all those we teach...that they will keep the commitments we give them, and that they will progress to be baptized in God's church.

Other than that, our week has been full of singing and giving service. On Friday, we borrowed a car from the mission office to drive around to members houses and carol, then give them some cookies...and some cookies and a video to give to somebody who they felt like could use some Christmas joy. So, when it came down to it, the Elders couldn't go pick up the car...so WE went to get a car. Let us all remember that I have not driven in almost 10 months, and that I have never driven in Stockholm. So, off we went to get the car. Well, it started out a little scary...I couldn't even get the car to go into reverse....don't worry...the Elders there helped me to figure out that European cars have a different set up...so reverse was found. :) Then...I of course stalled the car once before I drove away...it really had been a while. Hahaha...I think I made the Assistants really nervous as I drove that car away. Luckily, we did have a GPS, so getting into the city wasn't so hard. We made it there safely and all was well. It was a crazy night, and so much fun. We were able to really spread some Christmas Cheer. If any of you can believe this...but NOBODY goes caroling here. It's a very foreign thing we have been doing...which I think has made it all the better.

Now yesterday was some kind of crazy! There was more stress with yesterday than I have had in a long time. We were double booked for the entire evening....not to mention that we were going caroling again yesterday. SO, we recruited the help of the Sisters in Jakobsberg and they came and helped us. Sis. Swenson and Sis. Williams did the YSA dinner we had and they started the caroling with the Elders. Sis. Smith and I went to Tina...our wonderful investigator who made us dinner, and had invited Susanne...her friend that had given us Tina's name to go and visit. We had a wonderful time with them. They chatted and we all talked. When we gave the spiritual thought....Susanne was the one to bear her testimony of the Holy Ghost and how after she was baptized, she felt the influence of the Spirit so strongly in so many different situations. It was awesome. Susanne told Tina that she will go to church with her!!! How great is that???

We then caught up with everybody else and did some caroling. It was much appreciated and we are so glad that we have had the opportunity to visit so many and share our talents with them. Oh, and yesterday....let me not forget to tell you that we missionaries did two musical numbers in church. I accompanied Sis. Swenson and a new member named Thommas as they played O Holy Night, and then we all sang Away in a Manger. After Sacrament meeting we snuck out to go to a baptism of a little girl named Michelle...who we got to teach one time. Then....I lost my wallet. I was a wreck. Luckily....we found it after many prayers and the whole ward looking. Then off to Tina's...then caroling....let me just say yesterday was a very long, tiring, wonderful, fanstastic day.

Our plans for this week our looking good. For Christmas Eve, we will be with the Bishops Family. He has seven kids...and then he invited all 6 of us missionaries to come, and anybody else we know who needs a place to be on Christmas Eve. Then, on Christmas Day, we will be having Jakobsberg sisters over for Christmas Breakfast, and then we will go to the Glovers for Christmas Dinner. They are an American family in our ward who said we could come. Then the 26th, we'll be at the Endlers...etc. Not to mention we have lots of people we can visit around Christmas who could use the company and cheer.

I will be calling home around noon, 1 o' clock in the afternoon your time. We figure we'll be at the Glovers for a while, and then we'll call as soon as we get home. As of now...we will be at home and call from our cell phone. I will buy a calling card today and use that to call you with. It's cheaper for me to call with the card we can get, so that's what we'll do. :) I'm excited to talk to all of you on the phone! That will be fun! It would be good if everybody could think of a question or two...if there's something you REALLY want to know...and write it down, so you don't forget when you're on the phone...I'm going to do that too...so I don't forget. :)

I don't think there's much else to report. I love the work. I love this season. I miss all of you! I love all of you! I truly hope you all have a Merry Christmas!!!! I am sure it will be wonderful. Don't forget the Savior...and always remember how lucky we are to be able to be together as a family on Christmas. I've met many...who don't have family to be with. What a blessing it is in our lives to be close enough to drive or fly and be together. I know I'm not there this year, but I will be next. I pray that all of you will continue to find the things that bring true happiness to our lives, and do them. I know the Savior lives. I feel the Spirit testify to me regularly that He lives, and He loves us. There is nothing we can do that will take away God's love, and the love of His beloved Son.

Much Love,

Sister Suzanne Wood

P.S. Attached here are some fun Christmas Pics. of us missionaries in the Stockholm area. Bro. Koch sent the wrong link...so here's the right one: http://www.thekochco.com/ryanspicturepages/Photoaday/2009/Dec/091202.html

P.P.S. If you didn't get it....Jul is the Swedish word for Christmas!! ;)

It's Snowing! (Monday, Dec. 14)

2010-01-05T07:29:00.000-08:00

Hej, hellå min underbar familj och vänner!

It has been another wonderful week here in Sweden. I was so excited to walk outside this morning and see snow falling down on the ground! It has been really cold here, but we haven't seen much snow...at all. So, I was excited to see t he beautiful white flakes this morning. We have had another wonderful week this last week.

It was harder to meet with all of our investigators because of schedules and everything, but we were able to do much service, and have some wonderful opportunities to teach the gospel to those around us.

The weather has been pretty cold here. It is between -7 and 3 degrees celcius here every day. It gets dark about 3pm in the afternoon and the sun comes up about 9 in the morning. It's kind of crazy that it's so dark all the time, but Stockholm is well lit, and we have lots of things to do, so that helps us not get down about the weather...or darkness. The shortest day of the year is December 21st, and then it will start to be lighter longer....but I hear that January and February are the coldest months...the best is yet to come....as Michael Buble would sing. :) We'll see how it goes when it gets here!

I have been particularly känslig...we would say here....or emotional these last few days. I think it is partly because of the season...which I love so much, and also that I have been missing all of you a little more during this time of year. Don't get me wrong, I love it here...I love the work and I am surrounded by people I care about...but it's not quite like being at home. :)

We have had more opportunities to sing this last week and it's really awesome because Elder Hanes plays the violin, Sister Swenson plays the Viola and we all sing. Last Thursday the Elders invited us to this old lady named Ulla to sing to her for a little while. She is not married, has one son who is grown and away and she I'm sure has been lonely at times. We went to her house and sang and played her favorite Christmas Carols for her. She really enjoyed it, and I know that the Spirit was there, and that she could feel the love of the Savior as we sang. It was another wonderful opportunity for us.

There aren't many new updates with investigators from this last week...like I said...we didn't really get the opportunity to teach many of them...it's how it goes sometimes, but we have many plans set up for this week, and I continually pray that those we teach will continue to have a desire to learn and to feel the Spirit when we are with them and teach them.

The other thing to report from last week is that we went on splits last Tuesday and Wednesday. Sis. Swenson left Stockholm to go to Örebro, and Sis. Lunden came to Stockholm to be with me here. It was really fun to get to do that. We as sisters don't get the chance like elders do to change companions because there aren't so many of us and we are all quite far away from each other. I learned some really good things from Sis. Lunden, but I missed Sis. Swenson. We have been together for 5 months and work really well together. It's always good to change things up as missionaries to learn the ways that others do the work and hopefully get some new ideas.

I really hope all of you are doing well. I hope that you are all having a wonderful season!! The last thing I will say is that yesterday we had the last lesson in the Joseph Smith manual in Relief Society. We talked about the different things that the prophets have said about Joseph Smith and his mission here on the earth and all that he did for us. As we talked, I thought about the vital importance of what he did for us. I know my life would be completely different without the restored gospel on the earth. We were encouraged to think about what the restoration means to us, and to also think about Joseph for a minute, and what he went through for our sake. I completely agree with the statement that Joseph has done more for the children of man save Jesus Christ only. I know that wasn't exactly right, but the point is....that both the Savior Jesus Christ and Joseph Smith gave their lives us....in different ways, but none the less....both were willing to fulfill their missions for us.

How grateful I am for my testimony of our Redeemer Jesus Christ and for my testimony of the Prophet Joseph. I am so humbled to be teaching the doctrine that was first taught by Christ and then was restored to the earth through Joseph. It is an honor to be here in Sweden teaching these wonderful people.

Know that I love you all. Know that I think of you and hope that all is well wherever you are. I hope school...work....kids....and everything else is going well for all of you!

Love,

Sister Suzanne Wood

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year!! (Monday, Dec. 7)

2009-12-13T19:39:00.000-08:00

Dear Family and Friends,

It has been another wonderful week here in Stockholm, Sweden. I can't believe I am here sometimes. It's mind boggling to think that on Friday of this week I will be half way done with this mission the Lord has entrusted to me. I have so much left to do here, and I am so very grateful for the opportunity I have to serve. I am blessed every day with the Lord's tender mercies, with health, with joy and with a strong testimony that what I am doing right now is blessing the lives of many of the Lord's children here. I also hope it is blessing all of you.

I have had a wonderful first week of December. We weren't as busy this last week as we have been in the past, but everything we did was very worthwhile! We were able to teach Kristoffer and Niklas again this week, both teaches went very well. We are putting our faith and prayers toward knowing how to invite Kristoffer to be baptized. We want to make sure that it is right and that the Spirit will be the one that invites him to act.

On Thursday, after District Meeting, we went out in the middle of the city to a place called Hötorget and we did some Christmas singing and playing while we contacted people there. We all sang a couple of songs together, and then others went out and contacted while I sang Jul Sånger (Christmas Songs) for those walking past. It was such a wonderful opportunity to share my voice with so many. There were many who stopped to listen and it gave many opportunities for Sis. Swenson and the others who were there to talk to them about Christmas. I hope we get the opportunity to do that again. :)

On Friday, we had Jul Bord (Traditional Christmas Dinner) at the new YSA Center. It was really great. We had about 15 minutes before we were going to meet Kristoffer and we went out contacting down a random street. As we walked, we met a young man named Reese. As we got talking to Reese, I realized he was not quite all there. The more he talked, the more interesting he became....my thoughts were to tell him we needed to go and give him a pamphlet on the way. The next thing I know, Sis. Swenson asked him what he was doing and if he wanted to come to the dinner with us. He said, "Why not?!" So off we went to meet Kristoffer. Through the night we were very stressed out. We had 4 YSA investigators who came to the dinner and we wanted them all to have a good time. Luckily, the Elders kept an eye on Reese for us so we could make sure everybody else was doing ok. Well, the night ended, and we said good-bye to Reese.

The story continues.....we get to church yesterday and about half way through Sacrament Meeting...who would walk in the chapel but Reese....but not alone. Reese brought his dad to church with him. Now, this is where I know that the Spirit really does inspire us. When I saw them, I remembered that Reese had told us that his dad grew up a member of the church but hasn't been active for many years. It just so happens that the night we met Reese, he had run away from the mental institution where he has been staying. He had been wandering around Stockholm for a day or two and then we talked to him. After he went to the dinner with us, he decided it was time to go back "home." I think back now about how I had so quickly judged him...and he really did need our help. The Lord put us in his path and I'm so very grateful now that we were able to help him...even if it was just a little bit.

Now, I want to skip back to Saturday. We taught Swedish Class on Saturday and then we went out to Lidingö. Brother Koch, our Ward Mission Leader invited us to an old folks home to sing and play with his family who went last year to do a little Christmas music for the people living in this old folks community. I just have to express my gratitude that we were able to go and sing for them. It's amazing the joy that I could see in their faces as we sang Swedish and American Carols. I got to thinking about those who are old, and don't have family close...or who don't have family to come visit them and it reminded me of Pres. Monson's talk in Conference where he talked about how lonely it gets to be old. I hope that all of you find an opportunity to visit with somebody who might need a visit during this Christmas Season. I shook their hands after we had finished performing for them, and they were so glad and thankful for the little bit of time we had taken to come and entertain them. This time really is about service....service like the Savior would do.

Sister Swenson and I were talking about the Christmas Season and how wonderful it is to be missionaries right now. There is so much we are grateful for, and so much service for us to do here. We talked about how as missionaries it really gives us a different outlook of Christmas. We don't have family here with us to focus on, we don't have money to buy presents with, and we have the opportunity to serve all the time. The thing that has been most impressive to me has been the opportunity we have to focus on the Savior at this time of year. Along with all the other good and wonderful things that come at this time of year...it is the Birth of our Redeemer Jesus Christ that we have real reason to celebrate. It is His coming to the earth that makes it possible for us to return back to our Father in Heaven some day.

I am so very grateful for the fact that I can focus on the "Reason for the Season." I know that I will be sad in moments when I wish I was home singing, playing, visiting and being with all of you, but I know that I am serving the Savior, and that is something I find great joy in. I hope you all have a wonderful week. I'm sure all the decorations are beautiful, and the lights are shining, and I hope that you all continue to give and help others feel the Spirit of Christmas! Love you all very much!!!

Love,

Sister Suzanne Wood

P.S. Svenska ord för denna vecka är BARNKRUBBA....which means MANGER. Its the place where Christ was born. :)

Let the Holiday Season Begin!!! (Monday, Nov. 30)

2009-12-06T21:13:00.000-08:00

Dear Family and Friends,

I will start with an update of my last week on the mission. It was wonderful. We didn't have as many teaches last week, but we had memorable times, and we were able to have some really good teaches with our investigators.

I'll start with Wednesday. It was a busy day! We started out Wednesday morning at Kathy Hsieh's house. She is the 50 year old Taiwanese woman who served a mission 30 years ago and then became less active. Let me know if I haven't told her story and I'll explain more about her next week. The important thing is that we went over there and taught her about the Word of Wisdom. She is always accepting of the doctrines we teach her, but what was really awesome is that when the teach was done, she got on Skype with a man in Taiwan who she taught to baptism. The crazy and cool thing is that he and his entire family are now active members in the church. He is a patriarch, his wife is the Relief Society Pres. and his daughter just got done serving a mission and is going to go to BYU in the fall. It is so amazing to see that what Kathy did 30 years ago has had a tremendous effect on so many lives.

Right after Kathy, we were able to teach Charles. He's the man from Gambia who I sent the conversion story of a couple of weeks ago. We taught him from Conference....Elder Bednar's talk about being more diligent and concerned at home. Charles has a twelve year old daughter who he is raising on his own. The teach went really well, and then...every time we meet with Charles we sing for him before we end. We sang a Swedish song called, "Blott en dag." It's very popular here and I'll be sure to sing it for all of you when I get home. :)

After Charles, we went directly to Niklas. He is the friend and co-worker of David and Kristoffer. Kristoffer...the investigator I often talk about. We talked to Niklas about the Restoration of the gospel. He has been taught by the missionaries before, but it wasn't right then. During our teach he said many times, "Oh I see. It makes sense to me now. Maybe it's the right time for me now." Just what we all want to hear as missionaries! He was sincere and humble, and we left feeling like things went pretty well and we set up a time for another teach. Then, David called us later that evening. He let us know that Niklas had talked to him after the teach and that he really feels like what we told him is true. He sat right down and read what we had asked him to read from the Book of Mormon and said that he would give prayer a try before we meet him again. Wow!!! Totally awesome!!!

Then, after Niklas, we went directly to Qi. Her mom has come from China and is Christian but not a member of our church. We have been spending time with them lately and on Wed. evening they fed us some authentic Chinese food for dinner and we were able to leave not only Qi and her mom with a thought, but also Qi's non-religious boyfriend. It was awesome!! We talked about how we know through the Spirits that are in us that we are the children of God. It went really well. The Lord really is preparing people all the time to at some point be in a situation and place where they can accept the Gospel if they choose to.

Now to THANKSGIVING!!! On Thursday morning, we got up and made our assignments for Thanksgiving Dinner. We made a Green Bean Casserole and a fresh homemade apple pie. Sister Swenson got the apples cut and ready for me....then I did the crust and put the pie together. It was my first time baking a pie on my own. Mom....it turned out beautifully!!! I'll be sure to send a pic. of it when I can....don't know if I will get to it today. But...the pie was perfect!! The casserole also turned out well. We then headed to Täby where we had a joint district meeting with all of the missionaries in the Stockholm area and then got ready for Thanksgiving Dinner. It was really nice to have a nice dinner and have all the traditional favorites. One of the Secretaries in the office was in charge of the turkey and stuffing and he did a great job. We had all the fixings and a great afternoon. We then went on splits and did some finding work. I went out contacting with Sis. Smith...one of the newer missionaries in the field. She is awesome and really anxious to learn. We had a great time together. And...no better way to end the day but knocking on some
in some university housing. We had a great day on Thursday!

The weekend was just as great. On Friday, we taught Carina...another member who is the only member in her family and needs some support once in a while. She is awesome. We taught her about the Atonement from Heavenly Father's perspective and how he must have felt to watch the Savior go through what He did. It was really something I've thought about quite a bit and the Spirit was very strong during the lesson. It's interesting to think that Heavenly Father would have left the Savior alone....but he did so in order for there to be no feeling in the world the Savior had not felt...so that He could help us, even when we feel entirely and completely alone.

After Carina, we taught Marc. He is completely positive. We invited one of the YSA's who just came home from his mission to come. We talked about commandments, and why we have them. The teach went really well, and I'm continually praying that we will see Marc be baptized. He has a big test he's taking on Friday and is busy until then, so we'll wait a little bit to bring up a date to be baptized. I do know that he is truly humble and seeking for the truth. It's wonderful to have so many positive investigators.

Friday evening and Saturday, we helped move all of the stuff from the old church building to the new Center for Young Adults. The new place is awesome. We have a missionary room where we will be able to do all of our teaches. It will be wonderful to get completely moved over there.

Yesterday, we had a completely wonderful 1st Advent day. First of all, we went to church and Sis. Swenson and Elder Hanes played their violin and viola for church and I played the piano for them. We did "Silent Night", and some other song...that I don't know the name of in English. It's "Härlig är jorden" in Swedish. Ok, Sis. Swenson looked it up and it's "Beautiful Savior" from the Children's Song Book. It went really well. The Spirit was brought to the meeting by the music.

Then after church we went to the mission home to the Open House. It was a little feeling of being at home. There was good food, many wonderful people to visit with and we were asked by Sis. Anderson to be in charge of the music for the night. Sis. Swenson and I had checked out some Christmas Music books from the library and we played some duets, she and the other elders who play instruments played, we had sing along with many of the people who were there, and it was just plain wonderful. We had a great evening and there were many people there who are not members of the church who also had a great time. It was a pleasure to go and help with the evening!

Last week was really wonderful. Even though we didn't have as many teaches....our teaches went really well and I truly hope we were able to help somebody come closer to the Savior over that last week. I know that the Lord blesses us with what we need, and I am comtinually thankful for my blessings and the opportunity I have to be here serving the people in this beautiful country. As far as health goes...I'm doing just fine. My back is only hurting a little bit. It's not hindering the work in any way and I'm so grateful for that.

I will say that I did miss home on Thanksgiving. We had a really nice day...but there's nothing like being home with the whole family. I love you all. I miss you all. We have many things planned for December through the Holidays and that will help to keep the Spirit of Christmas with us....and hopefully not have too many thoughts of home. :) I hope all of you have a wonderful week and that the season of Christmas is with you throughout the week.

Love,

Sister Suzanne Wood

P.S. Swedish word of the week is BETLEHEMSTJÄRNA......that

would be BETHLEHEM'S STAR.....it is a tradition here in Sweden to hang a star in the window with a light in it....representing the star that was seen when Christ was born. I'll try to take pics. of some of them. It helps to see all the lights in the windows when it is so dark all the time.

Glad Thanksgiving!! (Monday, Nov. 23)

2009-11-29T12:27:00.000-08:00

Dear Family and Friends,

It feels like only a few days since I wrote last. I guess it wasn't so long ago. The rest of this last week went really well. We had a teach with our investigator Marc on Thursday. We taught him the Gospel of Jesus Christ and he told us he wants to get baptized!!!! We didn't set up a date for him to work towards yet, but we will do that this week. He is so very ready to accept the fulness of the gospel on the Earth, and it is completely awesome to get to be a part of that. He was sick on Sunday so he didn't come to Stake Conference but we hope to meet with him this week and set up a date for his baptism.

Kristoffer continues to progress. On Saturday evening, the friend that introduced Kristoffer to us called to thank us for what we are doing to help Kristoffer. David just wanted to express how much change he has seen in Kristoffer and that he knows he is going to come to the decision on his own that this is the right thing for him. That was really nice to hear from someone very close to Kristoffer that he is changing and spiritually growing through the knowledge we are helping him learn. I know very well that it is the Spirit that is teaching him. Kristoffer and David are also reading 10 pages every day in the Book of Mormon together!!! It's incredible.

With Tina, we are going to teach her about Baptism in a couple of days. We feel strongly that we need to teach her about what baptism is and help her to see the benefit it will be in her life. Last time we went, we talked about faith and repentance, and it was hard for to understand that God would forgive her after all that she has done. I assured her that God helps us through anything, and will forgive us of anything as long as we are willing to go through the process of repenting....and then forgiving ourselves of those things we do. I see a great change in Tina all the time as well. She has read a couple of Conference talks and loves them...she continues to progress, we just need her in church. She wants to come as well. We will continue to pray for her health to get better.

Other things happening here in Stockholm are as follows:

1. We will be having a Thanksgiving Dinner with Pres. and Sis. Anderson, The Wright's and all the other missionaries in the immediate Stockholm area. It will be really nice. We will be making green bean casserole and an apple pie for the occasion. We will have a combined District Meeting as well on that Thurs. Sweden doesn't celebrate Thanksgiving at all...so we'll just have our dinner and get to work. :)

2. This weekend is the 1st Advent into the Christmas season. It is the weekend where everybody lights the 1st candle of the Advent. There are 4 weeks to Advent leading to Christmas. Every weekend they light another candle so on until all four are lit the week of Christmas. We will be spending next Sunday at the Mission Home for an Open House they are having. Sis. Swenson and I have been put in charge of singing Christmas Carols with people and visiting with people who come to the open house. It will be wonderful I'm sure.

3. Yesterday, one of our new members called us on the phone.....first of all she speaks english....second of all I'm Syster Wood. Now despite all of that information....I answered the phone and said, " Hej! Det här är Syster Swenson." "Hi! This is Sister Swenson." Hahahaha...best thing of all is that I didn't even realize I had referred to myself as my companion until she started busting up and told me. Yes, after 4 months together...I am ACTUALLY starting to think that I AM my companion.

4. We are very excited for the Christmas Season in our apt. We already have a little tree put up, and lights. We know it's early...but we think it's ok since we are away from home.

5. My back is getting better. I still have some issues, but it is getting better. I am sure all of the prayers have helped. Thank you. I keep praying to be able to keep going, and that Lord keeps blessing me with the strength I need. I know this is the Lord's work and that He needs me here. I am doing all I can to work hard and help the work to go forward.

Those are the updates from this week. We have good things planned for this week, and we are excited to have our first full week of the transfer. This transfer is going to be awesome with Christmas. I think we will be doing lots of Christmas caroling and such. It will be wonderful. I hope all of you have a great week. I am so excited about Juliette. She is beautiful. I hope that all of you have a wonderful Thanksgiving. Remember all the things we have to be grateful and don't forget to thank Heavenly Father for the blessings He gives us. I am truly grateful for all of you...my family and friends...for the support you give me and the joy of knowing that you love me and care. I miss you, and I pray for you often. I always look forward to hearing from all of you. Have a fantastic week!

Love,

Sister Suzanne Wood

P. S. Swedish words of the week are......KALKON......which is TURKEY.....and POTATISMOS...which is MASHED POTATOES.....yay for thanksgiving. Too bad they don't have green jello here dad. I'd totally make it like we do at home. :) With almonds! ;)

Pictures

2009-11-18T11:56:00.000-08:00

Here are some pics that Suz sent today. She included some captions this time.

Sis. Swenson and me on the bus.

Me and Stockholm at night!!

Sis. Swenson and me with Marcus Karlsson...an awesome return missionary YSA who helps us often.

Sis. Swenson and me with Elder and Sister Wright...they are the couple who work in the Center with us. They are wonderful and so very helpful!

Sis. Swenson and me with Kristoffer..one of our investigators.

Us with Bro. Koch, the Ward Mission Leader, and his adorable daughter Audrey.

My district with Bro. and Sis. Cordova in our ward. Awesome member missionaries!

Us with Lindsey Tanner....another awesome YSA.

The rest of these are shoe pictures. They show how bad my shoes got when I had mom send me new ones...all everybody needs to know is that my feet got wet sometimes. :) I threw them away today....as you can see.

Staying in Stockholm!!!

2009-11-18T11:54:00.000-08:00

Dear Family and Friends,

As you can see...I'm staying in Stockholm for the next transfer....with Sister Swenson. I am really excited to get to stay here over Thanksgiving and Christmas. Not to mention....we have AWESOME investigators and we really feel like we have a lot of work to do here. I had felt a little bit last week like I might be moving....but really didn't want to. Sis. Swenson and I get along really well, and there is so much work to be done that we feel grateful to get to be here and do it.

This last week was really good. We taught 19 lessons to investigators, less active members, dinners with members, etc. It was awesome. Our goal as a mission has been changed from 15 lessons a week as a goal to 20. We are almost there. We continue to work to stretch ourselves and meet the goals that we have for the mission. I feel incredibly blessed for the success we have had in our area. I see how things have changed over the last 4 months...and I am completely excited to see what other miracles the Lord will provide us with as we do our part...work hard.

We taught Tina twice last week...which was so great. She is still struggling with her health, but doing better all the time. She told us about her experience with prayer...how she felt a wonderful releasing of all of her weaknesses and challenges in her life as she prayed to Heavenly Father and actually talked with Him. I truly know that she is repenting and coming closer to Heavenly Father all the time. It is amazing to see someones life change right before my eyes. It's amazing.

We are still meeting with Kristoffer also at least once a week and the Spirit is always strong when we teach him. We still need to help him understand why there are commandments the Lord gives us...and keep helping him progress toward baptism, but I also see a change in him all the time. He comes to church almost every week, and always tells us of the Spiritual Experiences he has when reading the Book of Mormon and praying. Amazing!

Marc, another Swedish investigator we have is also progressing and really listens when we teach him. He is eager to meet with us, and willing to come to church. He wants to understand better the origin of the Book of Mormon, and as he reads and learns more, I know his testimony will increase of the truthfulness of that book.

We feel truly blessed to be teaching the Swedish people in their own language. I know the Lord is helping me to be able to speak the language to help them understand. Often in the mission, most of the investigators are not Swedish. We have 3 wonderful Swedish investigators....which is wonderful....and a miracle, and a complete blessing from the Lord.

Other than that, I am doing pretty well. On Sunday, I woke up and my back started to really bother me. I must have done something to irritate the discs...so they've bulged and caused quite a bit of pain the last couple of days. I am grateful to Sis. Swenson for being patient with her temporarily gimpy companion. The Lord still continues to bless me. I can walk just fine, and still do what needs to be done for the work to continue to progress.

I see the Lord's hand every day here. I couldn't do the work otherwise. I know that as frustrated as I get with myself and my weaknesses...the Lord is helping me to be better, and making up the difference so that I am still able to help His children return to Him someday. We have many things going on this week. We have Stake Conference on Sunday and Swedish Mormon Musical that will be on Saturday night. Our church will no longer be meeting at the building Stockholms Ward has been in for the last 15 years. It's a leased area of a building in the middle of the city and the lease is out in December. We will be meeing in the church building in Gubbängen starting the week after Stake Conference. It will take us about an hour to get to church every week...and for some of the members an hour and fifteen minutes. We are a little worried about the response of the members...but we pray that there faith will keep them coming to church...even though it will take a while to get there. I think about areas of the world where people have to travel for hours to get to church every Sunday...but they still go.

Along with a new place where we will meet for church, there is also a New Center for Young Adults we will be moving into December 1st. It is going to be really awesome and we will be able to do teaches there, and use it to teach Swedish Class...and invite as many YSA's as possible to come and join in the activities we have going on there. We are also looking forward to that in the next couple of weeks.

Other than that, all is well in Sweden. The temperature is cold. It's between 0 and 5 most of the time...and there were a couple days last week in the negatives....yay.....ok....not really yay....but I am staying warm, and we stay so busy the dark and cold doesn't usually bother me. I hope all of you have a great week. I can't believe next week is Thanksgiving. It's crazy! Katie is getting married....Steph had a baby.....lots of things are happening, and I am still grateful to be here doing the Lord's work. I love all of you very much. I miss you. It's sometimes hard to be away...I hope you all know I truly miss you. BUT...know that I am happy and know that what I'm doing now is so important for Heavenly Father's plan. Have a great week!!!

Love,

Sister Suzanne Wood

P.S. Here is a Swedish word for the week....DRAKE....said like drawkay......it means DRAGON. Super funny...because my District Leader...Elder Drake....Äldste Drake in Swedish means the oldest dragon in English. We joke around A LOT about that. Oh, and we have one change with our Elders in the district. Elder Takahashi is leaving us....bummer...but Elder Hanes is coming to Stockholm...he was in my group at the MTC. It will be a great time!!

What I've learned... (Monday, Nov. 9)

2009-11-18T11:52:00.001-08:00

Dear Family and Friends,

It has been another wonderful week in the mission field here in Sweden. I have had some really cool realizations for myself and also for our investigators this week. We have stayed busy and all that we are doing to help those around us come to Christ is truly rewarding for me.

This last week I have thought a lot about obedience to the commandments....what it means to be obedient...why we need to be obedient, and how we can see the blessings of obedience in our lives and recognize that God has given us commandments for our benefit. Our investigator Kristoffer...who is AWESOME by the way....told us that he isn't ready to be baptized. As he explained his reason for not needing to be baptized, I realized a lot of his concern had to do with "not wanting to need rules in order to do what God wants him to." I have thought and studied much about why we have commandments, and my testimony has grown SO much in the knowledge that God gives us commandments to keep us safe from harm. He wants us to follow His commandments so He can bless us. It has nothing to do with rules God makes us follow...just so that He can be in charge and give us rules...but it has everything to do with Him wanting us to show our faith in Him, follow Him, do what He has asked us to do so that He can bless us. Every commandment we have been given has a blessing attached. There is no negative consequence to following the commandments. I just will say that as we teach Kristoffer the commandments, the promises received from following them, and that it is not a negative thing....I hope the Spirit will testify to him as it has to me that commandments are for our safety and benefit.

We have not been able to teach Tina for the last couple of weeks, but we pray that she will be in good health enough for us to teach her tomorrow. I know she is prepared for the gospel, it just will take time to be able to teach her and see her progress to baptism.

We also have two new investigators that I will just mention. The first is another Swedish man named Marc. We met him on the street one day and taught him the Restoration of the gospel last week, and will teach him again tomorrow. He came to church yesterday and had many questions. He is really positive and we will continue to help him learn about the fulness of the gospel. He actually believes in God. (It doesn't happen very often that we meet a Swede who believes in God.)

The other new investigator we have is a man named Manuel. He is from Brazil and has been living in Sweden for 6 years. He is really positive as well and the last time we taught him, one of his friends showed up and we ended up teaching him too. There really is success we are seeing in Stockholm. I have really mixed feelings about transfers!

Otherwise, everything went well during the week. Every time we pay our fast offerings...the next week we are blessed with several meals with members. It's such a blessing from the Lord. We have been busy, and we are continuing to invite those we meet to learn more about the gospel.

I am happy, and healthy. It's crazy that it's dark most of the time now, but we have so much to do it doesn't really even phase me. The weather is cold...but not too bad yet. We will get calls about transfers next Tuesday and then have our P-Day on Wednesday instead of Monday. We then transfer on Thursday. Like I said...I have really mixed feelings about transfers. Part of me really wants to stay here for Christmas...and see the progress of the investigators I care so much about. Another part of me feels the need for change as well. I know that President will be directed by the Lord as to where I need to be. Sis. Swenson and I get along really well...so it wouldn't be bad to stay together for another transfer either...I guess we'll see. Transfers are pretty exciting!

I hope all of you are doing well. I pray often that all of you....min nära och kära are doing well. That you are having success...in whatever you are doing. I love all of you very much. My mission has been such a blessing thus far and I know that support from you has really helped me in the work I am doing for the Lord.

I know that we are God's children. I know He loves us very much. He loves us in such infinite amounts that He sent His Son to the earth and redeem us from all that we would do here if we turn to Him. I know that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. I know He is our Savior. He wants us to come to Him and truly "be perfected in Him." I am grateful for the testimony that I have. It continues to grow and be strengthened.

Take care of yourselves! Have a great week. I'll write again next Wednesday.

Love,

Sister Suzanne Wood

Svenska ord för denna vecka.......MOSTER.......Jag är moster igen till en ny lite flicka.....Juliette Nguyen......yay for being an aunt again. I'm so excited. By the way...moster is mom's sister....or aunt as we would say. They split up family by the mom or dad's side. So I am Bry and Meliss's kids FASTER and Steph's kids MOSTER. Exciting right??? I'll explain more when I get home. ;)

New Pics

2009-11-02T16:59:00.001-08:00

Good...but hard week...

2009-11-02T16:58:00.000-08:00

Dear Family,

This last week definitely had it's ups and downs. We had to drop two of our investigators which is the hardest thing I have done thus far on my mission. We went and taught Fan and Haiyu on Thursday evening. We read in Alma 32 about experimenting on the word...and we both knew that they needed to decide they would experiment with faith in God before they would receive a witness of it, and toward the end of the lesson I felt impressed to bear my testimony to them of God's love, His existence, and His hope for all of us to return back to His presence some day. I can honestly say that the Spirit was the one testifying. The Spirit was in the room, and we invited them to really pray and act to find out for themselves that God is there. Then...they told us they didn't think they could believe in God, or in Christ and that He had atoned for our sins. They asked if we could just come and chat about other things...and be friends with them...and we had to let them know that as missionaries we spend all of our time inviting people to come to Christ.

As we rode the bus home, I was really bummed. Not at all about myself...or how we had taught them, but about their choice to not learn more about our Heavenly Father and His Son who have done so much for us. I was sad for them. I really am starting to understand what it means to believe Christ. To believe that He is God's Son, and that He did go through the Atonement for us so that we could be whole. I am incredibly grateful for the fact that I have grown up with that knowledge. I see how hard it is for people to accept it later in life, and I know that we have been so blessed....simply in the fact that we know that God lives, and loves us.

We were not able to teach Tina last week, and we invited Kristoffer to prepare to be baptized, and he is not ready for that. He is so open, and said he still wants to continue to meet with us and learn more, but that he isn't willing to get baptized. We will continue to teach him as long as he keeps his commitments, and I know that the more he understands, the more opportunity the Spirit will have to testify of the truthfulness of the Gospel to him.

We have met several new people that we are going to teach for the first time this week. It's getting cold out, and it's harder to get people to visit with us on the street, but there are those who want to talk. We are excited for the possibilities we have of some new investigators this week.

The work with our ward is going well. We met with the Relief Society Presidency yesterday and talked about the need to do Visiting Teaching. I think that if the ward can figure out how to be more successful with Visiting and Home teaching...then activation in the ward will start to increase. I know that feeling like a part of the ward...that feeling important is one of the most important things people need. We are really going to do all we can to help the ward members help all of the new members in the ward to feel accepted and like a part of the family.

We had the YSA Halloween Party which was really fun on Friday....and we also had a ward party on Saturday afternoon. Both activities were really fun. We didn't dress up...but there was good company, entertainment and some good food as well. I hope you all had a wonderful Halloween. I can't believe it's November. I'm just watching time fly by, and yet I know that everyday I am doing worthwhile things to help Gods' children here in Stockholm to come to Him.

Transfers are in a little over two weeks. November 19th is Transfer Day. I don't know what I want to happen. I love Stockholm, I know the ward, I love being with Sister Swenson, the work is progressing here...but if the Lord needs me to be somewhere else then I will go wherever He sends me. Tomorrow is Sharpening...where we will interview with Pres. Anderson and have a review from what we did at Zone Conference. I look forward to that, and to all that we have to do this week.

That's pretty much the update. As for me, I am happy and healthy. My back is still doing just fine. I don't have anything to complain about....except a little sore throat and runny nose. I refuse to get sick...so that's as bad as it's going to get. We have had a great week. The Sisters that were staying with us got to go home and be in their apt. again, Sister Swenson made a delicious Vegetable Soup we got to eat all week, and I love the work I am doing. I hope you all had a wonderful Halloween. I am sure there was lots of Trick-Or-Treating and costumes. Halloween is starting to spill over here...but not very much so the day was pretty normal for us. The temperature here is starting about -2 degrees celcius in the morning which is about 28 degrees farenheit...and usually gets up to about 6 celcius or 40 degress farenheit during the day. It's really not too bad...yet. The worst is when it is windy. It feels lots colder when the wind is blowing. The colors have been beautiful all fall and now everything is dying and it's starting to become really dark. I am not sure if I have mentioned that we changed to Winter Time here...which is where we set our clocks back an hour so it is lighter in the morning. The crazy thing is that the sun is starting to set around 4:00pm in the afternoon. It's pretty crazy. We have lots to do, so that is helping us not to feel like we're out in the dark all the time. I also realize that it is only getting to get worse...the dark and the cold, so I'm being grateful that it is not colder yet.

Anyway, there's a little trivia about life in Sweden right now. I hope you all have a great week. I love you all. I pray for you, and I hope that you all know how much I appreciate the support I receive. Take care and have a wonderful week!!!

Love,

Sister Suzanne Wood

Almost Halloween!!

2009-10-26T12:39:00.000-07:00

Dear Family,

This week has been really good. We have had many teaches, the weather has been cold...but not too cold yet, and we are now 4 people staying in our apartment. Being the Stockholm sisters....has really been exciting. There are two sisters in Jakobsberg which is just outside of Stockholm who last week realized that they have a huge mold problem in their apt. So, they have been staying with us this whole last week. We are crowded, but really enjoy being around each other. We also had Norrköping sisters stay with us Sat. night...so just imagine 6 girls in a one bedroom apt. There was NO floor space. :) We had a blast being together.

As far as the work goes, the work is going really well here. We are seeing real success with both Kristoffer and Tina. We went to visit with Tina last week, and we took the time to really talk about something that she had brought us...and that was that she feels like God has left her alone. She has felt like the things that have happened to her in her life have some connection with God's love for her, and that He must not love her for her to go through so many trials. We read a couple of scriptures that really help us to understand why we feel that way sometimes. It was amazing. After we had her read one of them, she said, "That was just for me. I feel like that is exactly how I have been feeling...and now I understand why I have had the trials in my life, so I could learn from them and become better." It was awesome. She is progressing really well. She is reading in the scriptures, and enjoys our visits. We are praying that she will be healthy enough to come to church soon. That is one of the only things that we are worried about...is her coming to church. It's just really hard for her....with Borelia (she got bit by a tick during the summer and nobody checked for that all summer, so now it's become really bad) and Fibromyalgia...which gives her a lot of trouble also. So we just keep praying that she keeps getting better so we can see her in church. We'll go again tomorrow to visit her. :)

Things with Kristoffer are also going really well. We have taught him the first two lessons of the gospel and he came to church again yesterday. We are seeing the ward really reach out to him. He is making progress, and we pray that he continues to think and ponder on what we have taught him to know for himself that it's true. He really likes the Book of Mormon, but didn't read what we had asked him to from last time. I know that reading and praying is the only way he can begin to develop a testimony of the things we teach. Our words will not get him a testimony. He needs to be converted by the Spirit...which I know he has felt. We look forward to our teaches with him and see that he has a great potential. We're meeting with him on Wednesday and talking more about Joseph Smith. Without a testimony of Joseph Smith...the Book of Mormon....and the church cease to be true.

We also meet with several new members every week. There is a member named Wan, she is wonderful. There is another girl named Qi....also wonderful. They are both from China, and have come a long way from when they started learning about the Gospel, but there is so much to learn, and so much to understand that I am grateful for the opportunity we have every week to see them grow in their knowledge and their testimony of all the things they are learning about. I love new members of the church. They have such a desire to learn, and are so willing to try and be better. It has reminded me that I too should have the attitude of a new member...always willing to learn more, and to always strive to be better.

Otherwise, the week went well. We have found several new people that we are going to try and get together with this week and teach. We are always busy. We teach Swedish class twice a week which has been going well, we try to stop by and get a hold of less active members, and we talk to people and invite them to learn about the gospel all the time. The work is going really well. We want to teach more people, and we are really trying to work well with the ward, because we know how vital that is to everything in the work.

I hope you have all had a wonderful week. I am sure Halloween will be fun. We will be having a Halloween Party at the YSA Center on Friday, so that will be fun. I am healthy and happy. I know the Lord is pleased with my decision to serve, and I pray and hope that I am continuing to show Him that I will do all I can to invite others to come unto Him. I hope all is well wherever you are. Time is flying by. We'll be seeing another transfer here...in a couple of weeks, and who knows what will happen then. I love you all. I pray for you and hope that all things you need...the Lord is providing. Remember to be thankful. All that we have comes from our Heavenly Father...because He loves us and wants us to be happy.

Love,

Sister Suzanne Wood

P. S. Here's a Swedish idium....två flygor med en smäll. It literally means two flys with one smack....but is equivalent to our....two birds with one stone. Pretty fun to use these....makes me sound like I know the language. :P Swedish really is going pretty well for me. ;)

A little inspiration...

2009-10-26T12:38:00.000-07:00

This is a story of a man we met when we were working with Sister Pierce in Södertälje. I have met Charles...have gotten to know him, and know that the Lord is aware of all of us, and really does reveal what we need to continue in our journey back to him.

Here's his story:

Charles is a convert of about a year who is from Gambia (a country in West Africa). Charles was a main general for the army there during the war a few years ago, and he worked directly with the President of the Country. Through some happenings at the time that I would call "secret combinations" Charles was decieved and ended up being charged with treason. He fled from the country with his daughter, and they came to Sweden. While he was here in Sweden, he met the missionaries, who taught him and helped him make many changes in his life. He was baptized and he met with the bishop every week thereafter to continue to work through things.

You see, Charles has been through many things in his life. Things that as he explained them to me, left me in awe that anyone could have such a hard life. There are many experiences that he has had that continue to haunt him today. After some time, Charles recieved a phone call from his mother in Gambia who told him that he needed to come back to the country and to sign some papers or their family would be "picked up." Charles had no idea what to do because he knew that in going back, he would be killed, but he didn't want his family to be in danger. He counseled with the bishop for quite some time and they came up with plans of how they were going to get Charles and Meri safely back to Sweden.

First off, Charles said he needed to take a gun back with him-he's been in the army, he knew how things were done and thought he would surely need it. The bishop told him that he felt so strongly that Charles shouldn't take a gun back with him and not trusting Charles, the Bishop made him stay in his house the day before he left, took him to the airport himself to make sure. The bishop also role played with Charles about what he would say if the President asked him specific questions. Charles has a bit of a temper, so he helped him come up with answers so he would be prepared and not fly off the handle. Also, the night before he left, the bishop felt very strongly that he needed to give Charles the Aaronic Priesthood, so he did, and then he printed out a line of authority for him to put in his wallet.

Okay, so Charles and his daughter were on their way home-Charles explained it as the longest flight of his life, and being in the army, he knew there would be soldiers there waiting for him when he got off the plane. He didn't trust in the bishop and the Lord and he doubted that anything would work out. As they arrived in the country, there were no officials to take him away. He walked past numerous checkpoints and to his total disbelief he made it to his home without anyone taking him away. No sooner had he and his daughter hugged the rest of his family, and sat down, there was a knock at their door. They had come for Charles. At least his daughter was safe in the hands of his parents. Then they took him away.

So Charles was "picked up" and put in a cell for a few days. They then took Charles and brought him to the President, who began to ask Charles a bunch of questions, all of which he was prepared to answer. Charles knew the President and he knew that he was a crazy guy-calm one minute and flying off the handle the next, so he had to do everything so carefully. The Bishop preparing Charles was absolutely inspired-He knew how to react calmly and say the things he needed to. He knew exactly how to answer each question and by the end, the President offered Charles his old position back. Charles did not want his job back. He had left his life behind him and didn't want to be that kind of person again, so he told the President that he couldn't take his job back because he was now a Priest in his church. The President didn't believe his explanation, so he took out his line of Priesthood which had been given him the night before he left by the bishop. Somehow, So, they brought some papers in front of Charles and gave him his release. Through all this Charles was completely stunned. They let him go and he and his daughter made it back to Sweden in safety. The journey back to Africa was an absolute miracle. What an inspired bishop, who gave Chales all of the tools he needed to accomplish this and what great faith Charles had in following the counsel of the bishop!

Always good times... (Monday, Oct. 19)

2009-10-25T12:36:00.000-07:00

Dear Family,

I have realized that every week I write very spiritual and uplifting experiences...which I won't cease to include in this email, but I read a line from dad that said, "I hope you still have your humor" this morning, and thought you should all be aware that I laugh all the time. As a missionary there are all sorts of crazy experiences we have. I will try to include them so that you all know that I too....Sister Wood...have a good time...in a missionary way. :)

So, here's a little funny story for this week: We have these two investigators to the church. They are Fan and Huiayu. We have been teaching them now for quite sometime. Well, we went to their house to teach them last week, and Huiayu came to the door before we even knocked and said "We are having a problem with the cat." We of course asked what is wrong...and he replied, "Well we are trying to potty train her, and it's just not working. She just pees all over the floor in the bathroom." In a little bit of confusion, we looked into the bathroom. As we peeked in, there we saw kitty litter in a weird toilet bowl cover thing with just a little whole in the middle. What we didn't realize when he was telling us they they were having a hard time potty training, is that they meant literally to have the cat go on the toilet. Haha. Super funny. That's not even what was the most funny to us. We have known them and the cat for some time, and no joke...the cat's name is Pe Pe. So, Pe Pe won't go pee pee in the potty. What a laugh we had over that. I hope it gets a giggle from all of you. :)

Now, other things that have happened this last week. We had the most teaches this last week that we have had here in Stockholm, and that I have had during my entire mission. It's amazing what happens when we plan well, and then everything goes through that we have planned. We visited many less active members, we had 3 dinner appointments with members (rarely happens) and we were able to teach all of our investigators this last week as well. We were literally running from one appt. to the next, and it was thrilling for both Sis. Swenson and I.

Things are going well with Tina. She is still pretty sick, but we went and taught her God's Plan for us. She was so open, and asked really good questions. She feels like she can make better decisions since she has met us and we have taught her about the Spirit and that it can be with us and help us to choose the right things to do. We will go and visit her tomorrow and pray that she will continue to progress. The hardest thing will be getting her to church because of her poor health. She has come already such a long way...and her friend Susanne...who is a member but has been inactive said that she would start coming to the teaches we have with Tina. It's amazing...the blessings we are seeing and the change that is taking place in this wonderful woman's life.

We did teach Kristoffer last Friday. The teach went really well. He was very open and accepting to the things we taught him. He is a very deep person and it's interesting to teach him. We gave him the challenge to read and pray, and he accepted that. We then invited him to the baptism we had on Saturday, and he came to that as well. We are excited to see him reach his potential.

On Saturday, there was a baptism of a man named Thommas Takhashi. The Elders have been teaching him for about a month now. He is about 20, and his story is interesting in that he grew up in Sao Paulo, Brazil, and actually went to church there because a lot of his extended family are members in Brazil. When he moved to Sweden 11 yrs. ago with his non-member mother, he lost contact with the church. As it would happen, he is a sales person for a phone company who's head guy is actually a member of the church here. They ended up discussing religion at length one day, and it's all history from there. This member gave the referral to the office, and Thommas was contacted by the Elders only a month ago. He could remember singing " am Child of God"in Primary when he was young. What a preparation for him. What a knowledge and testimony to me that the Lord knows us personally. He knows where we are. He knows what we are doing, and He know's who we need in our lives to help us to progress. The baptism was wonderful, the Spirit was of course very strong throughout the meeting, and I'm so grateful I got to be part of it.

I really have had a wonderful week. We were busy, we were able to visit with and help many people. There are some really wonderful members in our ward who just need some support, so we were able to visit them last week, and uplift them from the words of God. That really is an honor to me, and everyday I have the opportunity to help someone see the blessings of God in life, and the miracles that have happen, and that I see happening come because of faith in the Savior Jesus Christ and all that He stands for.

It's getting colder here all the time...but not too bad. I hear the worst is January and February...we'll see. :) I hope that Fall is treating all of you well. I love when the weather cools down and the leaves are changing color. I hope school, work, and everything else is going well for all of you. I miss you all, I love you all, and I hope that you continue to look for opportunities to serve those around you. It's really wonderful to know that you are all being blessed as I serve the Lord. Have a wonderful week!!

Love,

Sister Suzanne Wood

P.S. Swedish word of the day is.....actually two words....TACK....is THANKS.....and SNÄLLA is PLEASE. I think you should all be able to be polite på svenska när jag åker hem.

Wonderful blessings! (Monday, Oct. 12)

2009-10-18T12:55:00.000-07:00

Dear Family,

We have had a great week here in Stockholm. There have of course been trials, but there have been many more blessings than trials...when we look for the hand of the Lord in His work. I am always so grateful and amazed when I take the time to see what the Lord does for each of us...even on a daily basis. I think it's when we forget to notice the miracles, or small blessings that we become discouraged of think that the Lord has forgotten us. There is so much to be said for counting our blessings. Speaking of which, we sang that yesterday in Relief Society...and I started to cry...you all know me....big baby...well there is a wonderful sister named Louise Gleissman who was leading the song, and as we sang she looked at me and teared up to. It was such a wonderful spiritual reminder to always look for the blessings the Lord provides for us.

We have had several wonderful experiences this week, but I am going to focus from about Friday until yesterday. Sister Swenson and I have spent much time over the last week really trying to do the will of the Lord. We have prayed much to be led in what we need to do here in Stockholm. We had a couple of hard days before Friday, so as we did our Weekly Planning, we focused very much on what we can do to help the people we are working with and the ward members in Stockholm. Planning went really well, and we felt like we had some wonderful inspiration as to what we need to do. So, we went on with our day...and everything seemed to go down hill from there. Our appts. cancelled for Friday night, and we ended up having nothing solid planned for most of the day on Saturday.

Well, we tried to stay positive on Saturday, having lots of time to contact people in the city, and look for those people who are looking for the truth, and it seemed the longer we went, the more people were not exactly kind, and our Spirits were getting down. We continued to work hard though, knowing that the Lord always needs us to prove our faith in order to give us the blessings, and so we continued to work hard. We went home, ate dinner, and then went back our on Saturday evening to find a few less-active members we did not have phone numbers for. It was freezing, and we were not having much success. Well, as we walked, we got a phone call from a member in a ward called Gubbängen. His name was David. He called to tell us that he has a friend that he would be bringing to our ward yesterday. We couldn't really hear what he was saying, but just that one phone call made the rest of our night look SO much better.

We had started our fast Saturday evening, and when yesterday came, we were excited for the possibility of someone who might be interested in learning the gospel brought by a member to our ward. Well, as it goes, along with fast sunday, we also have testimony meeting. Well, during the testimony meeting, David (the member who brought the friend) stood up and bore his testimony, which was wonderful. Then, no sooner had he sat down....that his friend Kristoffer stood up in a congregation of people he did not know, in a church he knew not very much about, and he told us about the things that he knows are true. I can not even describe the Spirit that was in the room when this before Atheist man stood up at the pulpit and expressed to us the gratitude for the feelings he had in the meeting and for the experience he has had finding God. It was absolutely amazing.

After Sacrament Meeting, we all went to Sunday School and we talked about our Heavenly Family. The realization came to me during class that we really do have a Heavenly Father who knows us infinitely well. He gave us our personalities, our talents, and we had a very clear picture of what we were agreeing to when we decided to come to the earth. I sat there, and thought about my love for music. It hit me...I loved music before, I learned about it before. Heavenly Father gave me those talents of music before I came to the earth, and wanted me to come here so that I could bless the lives of others with what He gave me before.

I don't say this to express my "talent in music" but to point out that no matter what it is we are good at, our strengths, our talents, our personality traits, we had them before. We are all God's children, and I am so grateful for the knowledge I have that God loves each of us enough to give us those things we love, that we can improve and bless others with, and that we can have as a testimony that we were given so much before we came to the earth.

The rest of church was wonderful. I felt the Spirit strong the entire block of meetings, which I really needed. I felt so close to the promptings of the Spirit. After church, we invited Kristoffer to meet with us and learn more about the Gospel of Jesus Christ. He said, "Of course!" We will meet with him this week, and pray that his heart will remain open to accept the simple, beautiful, eternal truths that are the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

We have lots of plans for this week. We are excited about all we have to do, and the new investigators we have. We are continuing to see success here, and even though some days it's just the very smallest thing...like somebody who is not interested in the Gospel being kind in their rejection...but the blessings are everyday, and everywhere if we look for them.

I am grateful to all of you for your support and love toward me. I am grateful for all I am learning in this amazing time to serve the Lord. I love Sweden. I love the people here. I am understanding the Atonement more all the time and that Christ really did atone for all of us. Those who accept Him and those who don't. It really was an infinite Atonement. I am grateful for the knowledge I have that we can be together forever if we strive to live the Gospel. I love you all very much, and I miss you too!

Take care and have a wonderful week!!!

Love,

Sister Suzanne Wood

P. S. Swedish word for the day is BRÖD....bet you can all guess what that is....yes...it's BREAD. I had to do that one because we have started to make this homemade bread....in a bag...that is delicious and super easy. We are becoming professional bread designers besides the servants the Lord needs us to be.

Always love Conference!! (Tuesday, Oct. 6)

2009-10-11T10:21:00.000-07:00

Dear Family,

This last week has been very good. We have had success in the area, and are glad we are here. It has been an interesting week of work because the last few days have not been traditional missionary work. On both Saturday and Sunday, we were able to watch conference. We got to watch a couple of the sessions at the same time as all of you watched them. That made it a little better knowing we were all watching at the same time. I love General Conference. It always helps us to know exactly what we need to do to improve ourselves. It is such a blessing that every 6 months we get to hear from the Prophet and Apostles and other leaders of the church and receive the guidance and direction we need to keep progressing and becoming better.

The concept of revelation is something that I am so grateful. We are always trying to listen to and heed the revelation of the Spirit...and after conference, where they talked a lot about promptings of the Spirit, I see even more how important it is.

I loved watching and listening over the weekend. It was a much needed boost I needed. I was a little discouraged last week. We have not gotten any more new investigators and are really having a hard time to know what to focus on in the area. So, I was SO grateful for conference and the much needed guidance I received.

I have a much better outlook this week. We also had Zone Conference yesterday, which was fantastic!! We had a visiting member of one of the quorums of the 70. It was Elder Paya from France. The conference was also much needed for the work we are trying to accomplish here in Sweden. He talked about our mind set being a lot of what we will be able to accomplish. As he talked, it was so obvious that he had something else prepared, but followed the Spirit and told us what we needed. He reminded us that the reason we are out in the mission field is to find people who are ready to receive the Gospel and be baptized. It was so good to hear the success stories, and have a boost of confidence in what we are doing.

We also taught Tina again last week, and took a member of our ward with us. Irene and Tina had a great time together. They are similar in age, and just had a lot in common. Tina continues to be sincere in her desire to learn and understand and we continue to pray that she will progress and take the steps needed to be baptized. We love to teach her, and can see the change that is taking place in her as she realizes that God really does love her and will never forget her.

Sister Swenson and I have decided that we want to...and need to be more unified in our goals for the rest of the transfer and that we both need to set aside what we think is the best thing for the area and really take it to the Lord and do what He wants us to do. We are growing together more all the time....and realizing why we have been called to serve together in the wonderful and incredibly potential area of the world. We want to have success, and we want it to be the Lord's will we accomplish. We are both excited about this week, and the rest of the transfer. We have been encouraged by Pres. Anderson that he feels like every companionship can have a baptism this transfer. We are looking forward to that....and know we have a lot of work to do on our end to see that amazing blessing happen.

I'm trying to have an increase of faith in the work. I know that by faith in the Lord...we can do anything. I also know that when we don't show our faith, and act in the Lord's name, that there can be no miracle. My goal is to accept the miracle this week. I know as we work hard, the Savior will provide the miracle for us and show us success in His work.

I know I am doing the Lord's work. I know that the Savior Jesus Christ leads this church. I know that through the Prophet and Apostles that He communicates with us. I learned so much during conference. I am grateful for all that I learned and all that I have to imrove on. I love all of you very much. I hope that the Fall is beautiful, and that you all know how much I appreciate all you do for me.

I hope that this week is wonderful...full of good experiences!

Love,

Sister Suzanne Wood

P.S. Let's see, I am trying to think of a word that would be good....how about HÅRKLIPPNING...A HAIR CUT.....Sister Swenson cut my hair this morning. Don't be scared...she happens to good at everything. :) Plus it's more healthy...even if it's uneven. Love you!

Oh what a week... (Monday, Sept. 21)

2009-09-22T16:23:00.000-07:00

Hejsan min familj!

Well, this week has been crazy. It has been challenging for me here in Sweden this week. There have been many unexpected things that made it a challenge.

After I emailed you all last Wednesday, we had a good rest of our P-Day. Then, we found out at the end of the day...after we had gotten Sister Pierce all ready to go back to Södertälje on Thursday for transfers...that she would be staying with us in Stockholm another week. It was not a problem that she would be with us one more week, but because we had thought that she would return to Södertälje after Wednesday, we both filled up our schedules for this entire week in Stockholm and Södertälje. It proved to make things difficult. We ended up doing splits twice this week. Once on Friday and then again on Sunday to get everything covered. I am grateful that we had so much to do, but it was really stressful to try and plan and change plans and not be in my companionship so much last week.

Suz and Sister Pierce

The Stockholm Missionaries

Otherwise, everything is going well here in Stockholm. Sis. Pierce is going to go to Södertälje on Wednesday with her companion Sis. Robinson...who is in my group from the MTC. They will do well there and we are looking forward to our little mini transfer for things to get back to normal so that we can have more focus in the work here in Stockholm. We are all still getting along really well. I have to say it's really sad that none of you will get the opportunity to hear us sing together. It has been so fun to sing with these two awesome sisters!

The highlight of these last several days has been church yesterday. I was at church in Stockholm with the Sister missionaries who serve in an outlying Stockholm area. They came to church with me and it was awesome! We had three investigators tell us on Saturday that they would be able to make it to church on Sunday. We prayed they would actually come....and they did!!! We have been teaching a man named Viktor who is here in Sweden to get a job. He went to school in Scotland, and is really accepting of the gospel. He came to sacrament meeting. Then, a young guy named Habitamu from Ethiopia came with his friend who we hadn't met yet. It was awesome! The only problem was that the headsets weren't working for the english translation, so I ended up translating Sacrament Meeting into English for our investigators. It was pretty crazy. I keep joking with my companions that I feel like I really did make up part of it. Come on, I've only been here for four months. My Swedish is proficient for me to understand, but for me to process it that quickly was pretty challenging. Still, I was blessed and could really translate the meeting for them. They both thanked me after and said they really enjoyed the meeting.

So, we had three people actually come to church!! Then, another miracle happened. Another young man we have been trying to get a hold of to teach...Andy, came during sunday school with a friend of his we had never met before! It was awesome. We taught them about the Restoration of the Gospel and gave them both a copy of the Book of Mormon for them to read. The Spirit was really strong, and I felt so blessed that they came and that we could share that wonderful message with them.

I really have to say, that even though the week was hard, the Lord provided us with many miracles and that we have so much more to look forward to here. I really do know that the Lord leads His work here.

I hope you all know the blessings you have been in my life. Continue to do the best you can. We all have weaknesses that the Lord has given us so that we can understand and realize the importance of Him in our lives so he can help them become strengths. I have seen that many times over already on my mission. There are many things I am trying to become better at here, and I know I am being helped all along the way.

Hope you have all had a wonderful week. I hope the fall weather is nice. I love it here. It's cooling down and the leaves are starting to change. This is a beautiful country. Our Heavenly Father really did create this earth for us to come here to live. I really am in one of the most beautiful places on earth. I miss you all, and love you all. Thank you for the letters. I am glad that everything is going so well back home. I pray for all of you often, and hope that things continue to be well!

Love,

Sister Suzanne Wood

P. S. Svenska ord för i dag måste vara LÖN...det betyder REWARD på engelska. I hope you are all picking up a little Swedish here and there. Have a great week!

Pictures!!!

2009-09-16T06:54:00.001-07:00

Here are some pics from Suz's last couple of weeks.

Us with Moses and Jallah before they got baptized.

Us with Dele and Papa Sandy before Dele got baptized.

The three of us at Dele's baptism.

Us with Shaw...who has a baptismal date!!!

Us with Moses on our last night in Södertälje.

Charles...a super cool Gambian and me wearing his glasses.

Sister Swenson trying to be Bob the Builder...

What a week...

2009-09-16T06:53:00.000-07:00

Dear Family,

This week has been really good. Thank you all for the emails today. I know you all love me and support me very much. I hope you know how much I love all of you as well. I am so glad to know that all of you are healthy and happy, and that everything is going so well at home while I am here doing the work of the Lord in Sweden! It's been another great week here. We have been in Södertälje and in Stockholm this week...one last week.

President Anderson called us yesterday while we were in a teach, so we had to wait a while to hear about transfers. Well, I'm staying in Stockholm for this transfer with Sister Swenson. It seems that all the sisters have been rotated around us and that we are staying strong here in the capital city. We are both excited to stay here. I am excited to be able to have enough consistency in an area to really know what I'm doing and see the work go forward here. We have a lot of ideas for the transfer as well as a lot of opportunities that have come with the fall...like school starting and a lot more people around to contact. We have found many places to tract in the city and are really going to try to build relationships with the YSA's (Young Single Adults) and have them help us a lot with the work. I have the feeling that they are the key to success in this area. I'm very excited about this new transfer.

The highlights of last week were that we had another baptism on Sunday in Södertälje. His name is Dele. The baptism went well...we sang another trio together and the Spirit is always SO strong during baptismal services.

The thing that has really meant a lot to me this week is a man named Shaw. I have to tell the whole story....well maybe I've already told part of it....I'll tell it again anyway. One day in Södertälje, we were getting off the bus at the church, and I had seen this guy on the bus, and kept thinking I needed to talk to him. When we had stepped off the bus, I took the opportunity to talk to him a little bit. As we talked, he told me he was Muslim, but went to a Catholic school growing up and has become a Christian. I gave him a Plan of Salvation pamphlet and got his number to call him. We have now met with Shaw three times, the first time he came, he had read the pamphlet and wanted to know more. We taught him about the Restoration of the Gospel. We taught him the Plan the next time, and just two days ago, our last night in Södertälje, we taught him The Gospel of Jesus Christ and invited him to be baptized! Before Sis. Pierce could even finish asking the question, he said yes!!! It is incredible to me the miracles I have seen already on my mission. I am so grateful that I opened my mouth to talk to him that day getting off the bus. The Spirit prompts us, and helps us to do what we need to, to stay on the path, and be happy in this life. I'm grateful for all that I am learning about the Spirit.

The best part of the work in Stockholm was the three Swedish girls who showed up in church on Sunday for a school project. They stayed and listened to sacrament meeting, and then had some questions they wanted to ask us about the church. We of course were willing to talk to them more. As a little background, Kimberly has been an atheist all of her life. Sofi and Josefine are believers but not in any organized religion. So, as we started to ask them questions, they became SO curious about the church. We talked about the Restoration and that there is a prophet on the earth to lead and guide us. Kimberly was the one who said, "That is so cool. It makes so much sense to have one person leading the church." Then we taught the Plan of our Heavenly Father...same responses from all three of the girls. To make a long story short, we talked to these three 18 year old Swedish girls for 3 hours about the gospel. The Spirit was incredibly strong. I could see how they were feeling something different about what we said to them. They have never been taught about Chastity, or the Word of Wisdom, or Tithing, but as we talked...it all made sense to them. The Gospel is something we have heard before. It is something they heard before they came here, and it was so cool to see how they could make sense of what we were telling them....as if it was a reminder. That was an unbelievably awesome experience for me. I hope we see them again. I may not see them again. But, I know that they understand better who they really are. We are all of such infinite worth to our Father in Heaven. He wants us all to return back to Him someday.

The week has gone by so fast. Everyday, we have many people to teach, and find, and members to visit. We are very busy here. It's wonderful. My health is good. My back is holding up just fine. I have been so blessed, and will continue to be blessed as I am obedient and trying to help the work of the Lord go forward. I know that I am being led by the Spirit with what I do. I know that I will talk to the people I need to as I listen to the promptings of the Spirit.

I hope all of you are well. I pray all the time that everything will continue to be good at home...and wherever you all may be. I am grateful for the Gospel, and that we have the opportunity to help those around us to feel the love of the Lord. Don't forget to serve all those around you. The Lord is so pleased when we serve others!

Love,

Sister Suzanne Wood

P.S. Svenska ord för veckan......så vi se här.....det ska vara HALSDUK.......which would be SCARF......Jag tycker om att vi ha på oss halsdukar hela tiden här under hösten!

Baptisms!!! (Monday, Sept. 7)

2009-09-13T21:33:00.000-07:00

Dear Family,

I have had a wonderful week. I think one of the highest points of my mission has been during this last week. I have also had a challenging week. Don't worry....for those of you who figured that I must only be having success with my emails, rest assured, I have challenging days. I think that's really how we grow. I'm growing all the time. We can put it that way. :) I'll just say that this week turned out to be one of the best!!

I wrote you all last Tuesday, so I'll fill you in as to what has happened since then. After we had our P-Day, we went to Södertälje for Moses and Jallah to have their baptismal interviews. They interviewed and were both qualified to be baptized. Yay!! So that was a great start to the week.

We had several new investigators scheduled to teach on Wednesday afternoon, and they all came. Amazing! That never happens. Two of them became new investigators of the church. Totally awesome. We had to give them both to the missionaries in the areas where they live, but we got to teach them once, and the Spirit was there, and they have copies of the Book of Mormon, so it's great.

We went tracting on Thursday out in Lidingö before we met with a member out there. As we knocked on doors, it became apparent that we all really enjoy tracting. The thing is...you never know who's going to come out. One door in particular was really classic. We knock on the door, and it takes a minute, but to our enjoyment....there stands a Swedish women with bread dough covering both of her hands. She says she is baking....obviously and....something about people and stools....she was talking REALLY fast. Then all of a sudden a little girl starts screaming in the background. The poor lady goes with her doughy fingers and picks up the little girl. She comes back to the door and at this point we had all said many times that we would be glad to come back some other time. She said we were welcome back. As soon as she shut the door, we all started to laugh at what had just happened. Oh the joys of tracting.

Friday we were in Södertälje and taught Dele and Papa Sandy. We practiced and prepared for the baptism and everything went really well down there.

Saturday, we taught another new investigator. His name is Habitamu. He is from Ethiopia and is really accepting of the Gospel. I need to make sure I write down where all the people I teach come from. I feel like I am on an international mission sometimes. :) The thing about Habitamu is that English is his second language and he doesn't speak Swedish so that makes it challenging to teach him. We teach everything very simply for him and he understands. It has been really good for me to simplify the gospel for him. The Gospel of Jesus Christ is not complicated, but I think as we grow in knowledge of the scriptures and gather more information that it is easy to make it complicated. It's easy to add more information than is necessary. So, I'm grateful for the opportunity to teach Habitamu the things that really are important and the basic principles of the gospel without teaching him EVERYTHING I know.

Ok, and for the definite highlight of my week. We felt like we needed to be in Stockholm and Södertälje for church yesterday. So, we got permission from President Anderson to ask one of the members of our ward to be my companion through church and then to ride with me to Södertälje for the baptism. We called Yasmin Hadorph...one of the coolest Swedish converts to the church I've met to come on splits with us. She was SO excited to get to be a missionary for a day. So we went to church in Stockholm and Sis. Pierce and Sis. Swenson went to church in Södertälje. While in Relief Society yesterday, there was a little bit of time left for testimony bearing. Before time ran out, I had the opportunity to bear my testimony to the sisters in Relief Society. It was one of the most strong testimonies I have born. This last week I have really realized the love the Savior has for us, and I'm continually feeling that love more and more for the people around me. I saw many women sitting in front of me who are converts to the church, and their faith and decision to completely change their lives totally impresses me. I will just say that not very many people in the room had dry eyes after I bore that testimony. The Spirit was there. I am so grateful for the witness of the Spirit anytime we are doing something Heavenly Father wants us to do. I am grateful I can share my testimony all the time with people here in Sweden. I can't express enough how much I needed that experience yesterday. The Lord knows our needs, is aware of us and will give us those things we need at the time we need them.

After church, Yasmin and I travelled to Södertälje. There we got ready for the baptisms of Jallah and Moses. Now I need to say that I really felt like I have been a part of their conversion process. I didn't find them, but I helped in teaching them the gospel and helping them to accept and keep the commitments that would qualify them to be baptized. We had their baptism at 7:00pm. It was scheduled for 6.....it was hard to baptize them...without them there...AST....African Standard Time. So, we got things started and the Spirit was already strong in the room before anything started. We three sisters sang Nearer My God, to Thee a cappella and then Jallah and Moses got baptized. The Spirit was with us. I felt the love Heavenly Father has for those two men who chose to follow the path of the Savior. It was awesome. We then had a couple of talks and refreshments at the end. I won't ever forget the looks on their faces after they were baptized. They both also bore their testimonies of the church, and that was awesome. They have both had a witness that this church is true. It's amazing how the Spirit teaches us.

I am so grateful to be here. I'm learning so much. I am happy. I'm healthy. Transfers are next week, so we'll see what happens. I'll have my P-Day on Wednesday instead of Monday next week. I think I'll be in Stockholm for a while.....I guess it's not really a good idea for me to guess what's going to happen. I have already seen how it has nothing to do with what I think or what I want to have happen. This is the work of the Lord. I will be where I need to be to find those people he has prepared for me to teach. I am grateful to all of you for your support and love. Continue to live your lives in a way that our Heavenly Father can bless you. I know that He loves all of you and wants us all to be happy, and return to live with Him someday.

Love,

Sister Suzanne Wood

P. S. Swedish word of the day.........ÄLSKAR VARANDRA....ok, I know it's two words....it means LOVE ONE ANOTHER. It's become one of my favorite songs to sing på svenska.

Already September... (Tuesday, Sept. 1)

2009-09-13T21:31:00.000-07:00

Dear Family,

This week has been really awesome. There of course have been many things that have happened...it never ceases to amaze me how many wonderful experiences I have each week. I'm so sorry I didn't write to tell you last week that I have P-Day today instead of yesterday. We had Sharpening and Interviews with President Anderson, so our P-Day was switched to today. I am also having trouble logging in to my sistersuzannewood email address today, so that is why I am emailing you from my old email address. The stresses of working in two areas has been a bit obvious this week, but as we have done our best to take care of both areas well, we have been doubly blessed.

There is one really exciting thing that happened last week that I better tell all of you first. We have our first baptismal date in the Stockholm area that Sister Swenson and I found. His name is James. He is actually Swedish!!! He is very positive and when we invited him to be baptized, he had a huge smile and said, "Yeah, I really want to do that." It's actually Ja visst...in Swedish. It was so awesome!!! The Spirit was so strong as we explained the covenant we make with our Heavenly Father when we are baptized and we are really excited about the future for him. We hope that all continues to go well as we teach him the other laws and principles of the gospel. So, our week last week started out with a bang.

We have been continuing to find new investigators who actually live in our area as well. One of the frustrating things about Innerstan...or the Inner City, where we work is that there are SO many people who come in from all over the surrounding areas of Stockholm to work, or shop, or whatever...the hard thing is that we contact many interested people, who we then give to the missionaries who are working in that area. It has been really cool to see the success that has come from people we have initially contacted. Actually, a man named Walter was baptized on Sunday, a young African guy who was ready to accept the gospel. We contacted him on the street in Stockholm. We are always trying to find people, and hopefully we can figure out where to go to contact those who we will have the opportunity to teach. I have to say, it is a privilege to find prepared people...no matter who teaches them....it's about them finding the truth and getting the opportunity to learn about the gospel.

We have found an area where many University students live that is in our area. One thing that has been really interesting to me is what kinds of things have happened when we have planned to go to this area called Kungshamra. Each time we have planned to tract this awesome area, we have all three either felt physically sick, or really tempted not to go for some other reason. It has really been bothering me that it was so hard to go out there. Last night, the three of us were talking as we headed home from Kungshamra. It became obvious to all of us that Satan really didn't want us to go there. We have had great success all the times we have been in that area, and he knows that. It really just helped me to see how important it is, no matter what kind of challenges come up to stick to our plans and follow the Spirit. We have found 6 or seven positive contacts in just the couple of times we have been there. It's amazing. I also see that in my own life. Anytime we are going to do something good, Satan tries to distract us, he trys to deceive us into thinking we can't do it, we shouldn't do it, or that we're just not good enough to do it. What a bunch of bologne!!! I have a new, greater resolve to fight even the slightest feelings of negativity. I know the Lord will help us to do what will help us to be the most happy in our lives. Never forget that. When we're trying to do something good....baptism, marriage, mission, school....you name it, there will be opposition. Fight it! Do the thing the Lord wants us to do, and we will step by step qualify ourselves to return to Him someday.

Wow...now that I'm off my soap-box (hehe)...everything else is going really well. We have two of the three baptismal candidates scheduled to get baptized on Sunday in Södertälje. They are prepared and have accepted all of the laws of the gospel. We hope we have taught them the importance of what they are doing. We continue to stay really busy as our threesome in two area, and all is well in that way. We love to be with eachother, and we are finding joy in the work. We have our hard times....don't get me wrong, but we are doing our best to help people come to Christ.

I am still healthy and happy. I feel like I still have many things to learn to be the missionary the Savior needs me to be. I am making improvements all the time...and as soon as I feel like I've improved one thing, I see another thing I want to improve in. I'm seeing the Refiner's Fire in a very real way out here on my mission. Stockholm is starting to really cool down, and the sun is starting to disappear earlier. I love the area in which I serve, and I love the people I am getting the opportunity to meet. I am so grateful to have such a wonderful family and wonderful friends who are supporting me on my mission. I know you are all praying for me, and I appreciate that so much. I pray for you, and I think of you all often and hope the Lord will bless you with those things that are needed. Have a great week!

Love,

Sister Suzanne Wood

P.S. Swedish word of the week is......my pick this week.....let's see.....I think it will be HÄRLIG......sounds a little like hairy in english, but it means......WONDERFUL. Det är härligt att ha så finnt familj och vänner hem. Jag tycker att jag är så välsignad!

Stockholm Pics

2009-08-24T08:01:00.000-07:00

Here are some pics that Suz sent of the Stockholm architecture and area today. The first is a pic of her with her two comps, Sister Swenson and Sister Pierce. She called them the "Three Musketeers."

Love One Another

2009-08-24T07:15:00.000-07:00

Dear Family and Friends,

It has been another exciting and wonderful week in Sweden. Fall is coming. It is starting to cool down...thank goodness because the Swedish women are starting to have a little more clothing on them...some of the time. Stockholm is beautiful still. We have been commuting back and forth between Stockholm and Södertälje this week, and all has gone well with the load we have of both of the areas we are working in. I am happy, healthy and ready for another week of work.

There have been a couple of really awesome experiences I have had this week that I will tell all of you about. The first awesome thing was Tuesday...or Wednesday. We had met a man and were meeting with him at the church for our second teach with him. He has been to many different churches and really wants to know what we believe and how we do everything in our church. Well, the first time we had met with him, we gave him The Book of Mormon to read. As we sat down with him at our second lesson, we asked him if he had time to read at all in the B of M. He proceeded to tell us that he had read 160 pages of it already. "Really?" We all said to him after that. It was awesome. He wants to read the whole book, but it was just really awesome that he is serious enough to know if it is true that he actually read in the B of M. We had a wonderful teach with him and will meet him again this week. His name is Faical by the way.

The other really cool experience we had was on our way to the church in Södertälje on Friday. We ended up leaving an hour earlier than we had planned to get to Södertälje on time. As we were on the bus with a couple of Elders who were with us, one of the Elders...Elder Ahola who is actually Finnish....started talking to a young man on the bus. Then, as we got off the bus, I contacted a man who said he would be interested to learn more and gave us his number...as well as Sis. Pierce and Sis. Swenson talked to another lady who said she would like to meet and gave them her number. I would have never guessed that there were so many prepared people on the same bus. It is so true that the Lord leads us to the people who are prepared...even when we don't know it. It was totally awesome to have that happen.

We also have a new investigator in Stockholm named James. He is totally awesome. He has sort of crazy scientist hair and he is Swedish....we really don't teach very many "Swedes." We met him one day and have met with him two other times already. He is super open and accepting of the gospel. He has read in Book of Mormon, and we are going to invite him to be baptized when we meet him again...today!!! I'm so excited for that teach. There is a really awesome newly returned missionary from Sweden who just got home from Greece who is coming to all of the teaches with James, and it makes such a huge difference!! I'm so grateful for the members and all they do to help us.

As for everything else this week....all 3 of our investigators who are going to be baptized in 3 weeks in Södertälje are doing really well. Jallah, Moses, and Dilly are all progressing, and doing very well. They are accepting of the Gospel, and they are commited to be baptized and live the gospel throughout their lives. We went to church down there yesterday and the ward in Södertälje is awesome also. They really reach out to the investigators and help the missionaries however they can. It's awesome!

I feel like this email is a little scatter-brained. I have so many things I'm thinking about, and so much going on that it's hard to write everything down, and explain it in a comprehensible way. I think the most important point of this email is to let you all know that the work of the Lord is still going forward here in Stockholm/Södertälje. We are busy again this week, and I am always trying to be a better missionary. I have so much to learn to be all the Lord wants me to be. I am grateful for the opportunity he has given me to come out here and be his tool here in Sweden...even with all of my shortcomings.

Our threesome is doing well. I love both Sister Pierce and Sister Swenson. We are enjoying teaching together and we have a lot of fun together as well. We all three love to sing...and we sound pretty good as a trio. Tonight we are teaching Family Home Evening at the Institute and we have decided to teach the Restoration of the Gospel through music. It's going to be awesome. We sing everywhere we go, and I feel so blessed to have two VERY talented companions around me all the time.

I really do enjoy the work, and I look forward to the things that are still ahead of me on my mission. I hope all of you are doing well. I hope that for all in school...that school has started well, and that you remember the Lord...even in your studies. I hope that the weather has been nice...wherever you are. I hope you know I think of all of you often, and pray that the Lord will help you all in everything. Remember to pray, and know that the Lord is aware of all we do, and will do whatever He can to help us. I look forward to hearing from all of you every week. Thanks for the support and love!

Love,

Sister Suzanne Wood

P. S. This week's Swedish word of the week is provided by Sister Pierce...it is....TUNGOMÅLSGÅVAN.....that would be THE GIFT OF TONGUES. I think it's her favorite because we all know that we have been given that gift to communicate with the people here. Oh, by the way, I'm pretty good with Swedish now. I still have a lot to learn, but I understand a lot, and can say....a lot....just like in English....poor Swedes....with talkative Sis. Wood...what will they do???

Transfers!! (Monday, August 17)

2009-08-24T07:07:00.000-07:00

Dear Family and Friends,

So I'm sure all of you might be wondering why I would make something like transfers my title for this email. Well, I am getting very used to change on my mission. This last Tuesday, I got a phone call from Pres. Anderson letting me know that we would have a new companion coming to serve with us in Stockholm, and that we would also be working in her area Södertälje. I of course was more than glad to accept the call, but it has meant adjustment and a lot more travel this last week. The reason for the switch is that Sister Pierce...my new companion has been in Södertälje with a short-time missionary who is a native Swede. She could only stay for a month, so Sis. Pierce was left without a companion. We are so glad to have her with us. She has 3 Baptismal Candidates in Södertälje and so until the end of the transfer we will be spending two or three days a week in Södertälje and the rest of the time in Stockholm. We all know that this was meant to be for all of us to be together right now. Sis. Pierce's dad is really sick, and she has a lot going on back home, and it would have been difficult for her to be training another short-time missionary and dealing with all that is going on otherwise. We really enjoy eachother and we are figuring out the logistics of having 3 together. It really is kind of tricky, but we are trying new things and ways to make it less awkward when we contact people, etc.

Other than that big change that has taken place, this week has been pretty good. We are still looking for positive investigators in Stockholm. We are finding people to teach, and that is wonderful, because every little bit they learn can help them to have a better life, but we are still looking for those who are prepared to accept the entire gospel of Jesus Christ...find those who are searching for the truth, and don't feel like they have been able to find it from anywhere else.

I am not sure I have explained very well my special assignment at the Center for Young Adults here in Stockholm. The Center is a church run center where young adults between 18-30 can come and they have activities, institute, and all sorts of different things going on at the center. We as "Center" missionaries are trying to focus our efforts on those who are in that age group. We contact EVERYBODY, but we have the center as a resource for those young people to come and enjoy the friendships, good atmosphere, etc. that come from the center. We are all excited for school to start at Stockholm University, and other higher education schools so we can go and contact people there. These Centers are all over Sweden and all over Europe, and it all started when Elder Perry of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles made a statement about having a dream...or a revelation that the future growth of the church in all of Europe would come from those 18-30 years in age. I love this call! We are going to be working closely with the YSA (Young Single Adult) council, and doing a lot of missionary work through them. We are looking forward to the possibilities as we try to magnify this call to find those prepared.

One really cool experience from this last week was when we were in Södertälje on Saturday for a big ward activity. We took 2 investigators from there, and one of them...Jallah had a baptismal date, and Moses has been associated with the church for a long time, but never commited to be baptized. We had gotten off the bus, and were waiting for some ward members to pick us up from the stop, and I started to talk to Moses about different things. He and Jallah are both from Liberia. Eventually I played the "don't know you very well and can ask you anything" card and asked him why he hadn't been baptized. He said that he would be eventually, before he goes back to Africa. As we talked Sis. Pierce said, "Why don't you get baptized with Jallah in 3 weeks?" He then replied, "That sounds good." AWESOME!!! So we set a date for his baptism into the church. It was really cool to see that later, as we were leaving the activity Moses again brought it up, and asked me if we could really help him to get ready to be baptized, and of course I told him we could. It's amazing what a little time does, and the right person can do to influence somebody for good.

We also taught a man named Marco down in Södertälje last week. The Spirit was strong, and he is one who has been searching for the truth. We taught him about the need for a restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Then we showed him The Restoration DVD. After the movie, we talked about the Book of Mormon, and our testimonies of it. I told him that I had been a member of this church my whole life, and that I was taught all of these things when I was little, but that there was a point in my life when I needed to find out for myself and have it confirmed to my heart that the Book of Mormon is true, and that the teachings of the church come from God. I testified to him that I read the Book of Mormon, and I prayed to God about it to know that it was His word, and I could never deny the answer that came one night when I was praying...the feeling of peace that came to my heart and the ever so small voice that whispered that it was true. After I bore my testimony to Marco, he really had felt something....the Spirit. He began to tell us that he really felt like he needed to read the book. He had motivation. He really wanted to try for himself. Wow. It was such a testimony of the Spirit to me...and the ability the Spirit has to touch our hearts, to change our hearts.

I feel so blessed to be here and share the gospel with the people in Sweden. I'm amazed how much I learning all the time. I am reading the New Testament right now, and I know that Christ really did come to the Earth. He really did teach the people what they needed to return to Heavenly Father. He is the light of the world. He is the bread of life. Them that believe on Him shall not perish, but shall have everlasting life. We have the knowledge that we can repent to Our Savior, and become clean through Him. As I see people changing their lives here, I realize that we can all go through that conversion daily, and try to be better in whatever way we need to. I know that life is hard. I know we have trials, but more than anything else I know that we can receive guidance, help, comfort, and whatever else we need from Him who gave us life, the one who gave us the opportunity to come and show our faith and that we would try to be better to make it back to Him one day. I hope you know I love you all. I pray for all of you. I appreciate so much the support and love you all show me. Take care of yourselves and have a wonderful week!

Love,

Sister Suzanne Wood

P.S. Swedish word of the week would have to be......KONSTIG.....the word coming from Sis. Swenson this week as one of her favorites....it means STRANGE. I think she must be referring to me as strange all the time...that's why she likes that word best. I like to keep her on her toes....you know.

More Holiness Give Me (Monday, August 10)

2009-08-24T07:05:00.000-07:00

Dearest Family,

As I sit and write my letter for this week, I am filled with gratitude for the fact that I have the gospel in my life. I know that it has blessed my life more than any other thing in the world could do. I am grateful for the examples I have in all of you of strong testimonies of our Heavenly Father and His Beloved Son Jesus Christ. Thank you for the letters, the thoughts and I'm sure the prayers that you all send up in my behalf.

As I sit here and write this letter, I am also a little saddened. One of the investigators we have been meeting with, and who has come to church 3 times already called us just a little while ago this morning and told us that he has decided he doesn't want to meet with us anymore, and doesn't want to become a member of the church. What has been so interesting to me, is that I don't feel bad for myself. I don't feel discouraged about the fact that we will have one more hour open every week. What I am so sad about is that he has chosen not to accept the most important thing in life...the fulness of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. As I said already, it has blessed me more than I can describe, and for him to choose not to want to know more, and accept it. I just hope that at some point, he meets again with missionaries, and is more ready to accept the gospel. There is timing in everything. I hope all of you have thought about in the last little while what a blessing it has been....for most of you...like me, to be born in the gospel. We didn't have to search for it, we were blessed to be born into the blessings of the gospel, and grow us with a knowledge of the Plan that God has for us, and everything else. It's worth thinking about...that we are so incredibly blessed.

Otherwise, on a much different note, my week has been wonderful. We were really busy this week. We have taught several Less-Active members, had Zone Conference, met with new investigators, gotten a Baptismal Date....which I'll talk a little more about in a minute...and we have just had a really great week in the work.

One of the highlights of this week was Zone Conference. On Thursday, we went to the Stake Center in Gubbängen, just a little ways outside of Stockholm to meet with not only the Stockholm Zone, but also Stockholm South and Norrland Zones. It was awesome! The entire day we focused on the First Vision, and Joseph Smith History. It was amazing. What is so awesome about the fact that we believe that Joseph Smith saw God the Father and His Son in the grove is that there lies the absolute necessary knowledge of the beginning of the Restoration of the Gospel. Before we went to conference, we wrote down some of the thoughts we had about Joseph and what is written in his history. One thing I noticed more when I studied it thoroughly is that Joseph was genuinely confused. He had really thought about which church was right, he wanted to know, so he talked to everybody of authority in different sects to ask them for the answer he genuinely wanted. He was absolutely lost when it came to knowing what church was right. More than that, he was willing to do anything it would take to find an answer. Even go through years of persecution after the vision, and being murdered because he had only told the truth about what he had seen, and followed the commandments of God to bring the Book of Mormon to the earth, and receive again the priesthood authority on the earth. I guess my point is, Joseph was a man of God. I know without a doubt that he did see God and Jesus Christ, and even though it may sound crazy as I testify of that to people on the streets here in Sweden, I know it's true. I have had it confirmed to me by the power of the Holy Ghost many times that Joseph was a prophet. The best part of telling people that is that I always can tell them that they can find out for themselves...they don't have to believe me. That is why this church is true. We don't have to convince people it's true...they can find out for themselves.

Another really awesome thing that happened this week was a young man named Walter, who Sister Swenson met at Odenplan...the place where we do our utställning (an exhibit like thing) who said he would meet with us. We taught him one lesson, and invited him to a baptism that was held on Friday night. At the baptism, he said, "I want to become a member of your church." AWESOME!! So then, as we talked a little more on Saturday, he decided that he wants to get baptized in 3 weeks. Yahoo!! The only tragic part of this story is that we found out that Walter doesn't live in our area, so the Zone Leaders in Gubbängen will be teaching him and getting him ready for baptism. None the less, he is awesome, and it goes to show that there are people ready to accept the gospel!

On another note, I am doing well. Sister Swenson is doing well. We are keeping busy, talking to a lot of people all the time. We are continuing to search for those people who have been prepared for us, and we love the work. My health is good. I am happy. It sounds like everything is going well at home, and I hope that those of you I don't hear from often are doing well, and happy as well!!

I hope that you all have a wonderful week. I look forward to hearing from everybody every week, and I know that the Lord will bless us all as we are obedient to the commandments, and try our best to become who we were sent here to become. I am so far from perfect...that I am always seeing ways I can be better. Keep trying in whatever ways you can to become more like the Savior. He is the perfect example for us.

Love,

Sister Suzanne Wood

P.S. Instead of one Swedish word this week, I'm going to write a little something på Svenska...Jag är helt övertygad att Gud älskar oss. Jag har ingen tvivel om att vi ska återvända till vår himmelske Fader nå'n dag. Jag vet att Jesus Kristus vill att ve följa honom och försöker att bli bättre. Jag vet att den här kyrkan är sann. :)

Some pics of Stockholm

2009-08-24T07:04:00.000-07:00

Here are some pics Suz sent this week of the Stockholm architecture and area. The first is a pic of her with her comps, Sister Swenson and Sister Pierce. She called them the "Three Musketeers."

New Pictures

2009-08-03T09:09:00.000-07:00

Suz sent these this morning. She apologized that she didn't have time to write little captions, but it looks like the pictures are probably her zone, , her new comp Sister Swenson, the sister missionaries, and the last pics with Sister Vaatti.

Enjoy!

Teach Me to Walk in the Light

2009-08-03T09:08:00.000-07:00

Dear Family and Friends,

Well....what can I say??? It's already August. I won't even get into how it feels to have already been out on my mission.....oh never mind. I am doing SO well! I love this work, I love the people here, I love my companion, and I love everything about my mission. It's so amazing to me that I am learning to love a culture, a part of the world, and so many people I might only meet once, so much that I can't even explain it. Stockholm is wonderful. The ward we work with here is awesome. They have already had 5 baptisms this year in the ward, and one scheduled on Friday. They are willing to come to teaches with us, feed us, let us practice our Swedish with them, and I feel very blessed to be here. I am more comfortable with my call as a Senior Companion all the time. I am not worried about the fact that there are many things I don't know...because I know the Lord knows and will help me as I ask and pray to know what we need to do. I am relying on the Lord all the time, and we are having success here.

There are many less-active members in the ward we are working with. Kathy, the woman from Thailand, is getting stronger in her faith all the time. We continue to meet with her, and although she had to work yesterday and couldn't come to church, she is really trying to gain her testimony back. I love teaching her. She is the very model of Mosiah 3:19...which talks about being as a child...meek, submissive, patient, etc. She is all of those things, and is so accepting of the commitments we are helping her to make. Her ultimate goal is to go to the temple. We are always thinking about how to help her get there.

We have many scheduled times with other less-active members for this week, and hope to strengthen them as well. There are so many, who just need some support, and someone to invite them to activities, to church, and to have the love and fellowship of someone in the church. I am learning very quickly that it is much more likely that they are not active because they don't feel like a part of things...than that they are not active because they do not have a testimony of the gospel. To me, these wonderful people I am helping to stay and become active again are some of the most important people to me...they have already entered into covenants with the Lord...how vital is it that they keep them??? Anyway, I am meeting and having the opportunity to strengthen many people here.

We have also been teaching Rong, and Baska....both newly baptized members of the church. They are so wonderful! Their desire to learn and understand everything better is amazing. We will continue to meet with them, and help them to become independent in their testimony of the gospel and confident to continue to learn and grow all the time.

I am very glad to say that Janos...whose name I spelled wrong last week is doing very well. He came to church again yesterday and really enjoyed the testimonies that he heard. He stayed again for Sunday School and we will meet him again on Wednesday. He is so earnest to be better, and has questions, and I have to say that the lesson we taught him went really well. Sister Swenson is still working on her Swedish, and at the end of the lesson she was really straightforward with Janos and asked him if he found out that what we told him was true if he would become a member....he said, sure why not!!! Woohoo!!! He is awesome, and so prepared to accept the fulness of the gospel. I would have never thought that he would be one to be ready. It goes to show that it is out of my hands who is ready for the gospel, but that I need to give everybody the opportunity to accept it.

We also taught yesterday a young man named Nashwan for the first time and gave him a Book of Mormon...as we testified of the truthfulness of it, and how he can pray to know that it is true, and how much it has helped me in my life, he said, "I'll read it, I want to read it." We will be meeting with him again this week as well.

I feel so blessed right now. My companion is wonderful. We try different ideas everyday. I am letting her take more responsibility all the time. She is confident, enthusiastic, and really is trying so hard to become the best missionary she can. We work hard together. Other than that, I am doing well. I am healthy and happy. I don't think I've been so happy ever before...and I think it's mostly because I've never been less worried about myself. I know the Lord will provide for me...so I am trying to provide for those people here whom I have been sent to serve.

I love you all. I really hope you know that I pray for you often. I hope you have a wonderful week, and that you remember to stay close to the Savior. Let Him direct your paths and you will be blessed beyond what you can imagine. Have a great week!!

Love,

Sister Suzanne Wood

P. S. Swedish word for the week is going to have to be.....VALTHORN....now this may seem crazy, but you all know I play the FRENCH HORN....well I found out what it is in Swedish....pretty exciting if I do say so myself...ok...maybe not as exciting to all of you...but none the less I'm glad I know now.

For the Beauty of the Earth

2009-07-27T12:16:00.000-07:00

Kära Familj och vänner,

This week in Stockholm has been wonderful. I love this area. It is beautiful. I will for sure send pictures next week of the city. There is water all around us, the people are all busy, and there is so much to do here! We have had much success this week as two new sisters in this area. We found many people to teach...most of which didn't show up to the scheduled time we made, but we will keep trying to find those who are truly prepared to listen and receive the Gospel in their lives. I am grateful for the emails and updates from all of you. I hope you all know how much I appreciate the support as I am here serving the Lord. I hope this note finds all of you healthy and happy!

I can't believe that July is just about over. It seems that time just disappears before my eyes. I am grateful for the nice weather we have been having here. For those of you who are not so familiar...and maybe I have said this before, but Stockholm is built on many little islands. So, we see water everywhere. The architecture is beautiful, and everyday we take the very effective subway system to go wherever we need to go. My favorite thing about Stockholm thus far is the architecture in Gamla Stan...which is the old original city of Stockholm before it became so huge. I will definitely take some pictures of it this week and send them.

Sister Swenson is awesome. She is very willing to do whatever I ask her too. We have had some really great experiences so far together, and we are continuing to get to know each other better and work well together to help people come unto Christ. She is ambitious, and happy to be here doing the work of the Lord. That has really helped me to continue with a positive attitude. It really does make a huge difference that we are both positive and trying to always be better missionaries. Sister Swenson's Swedish is also good. I'm impressed with her all the time, and it is not by coincidence that we are companions together right now. I'm excited for this transfer and the success we will have here as we continue to show our faith to the Lord and work hard.

As for what happened in the work this last week. We had a couple of really cool things happen...most of which was yesterday. There were many appts. that fell through earlier in the week which was too bad, but everytime that happened, we sincerely tried to figure out what we needed to do instead, and we have had success and found joy in the work, even when things haven't gone according to our plans. I'm just glad to know and remember that the Lord has a plan and is just needing us to figure out what it is. I will never question that His plan is the one to follow.

So the events that led to yesterday being such an awesome day. Well, on Tuesday, we taught Kathy again. She is improving, and her faith is growing. She still has many steps to take to become fully active in the church, but she has a desire, and I pray that we can continue to help her improve and come closer to the Savior all the time. On Tuesday after we had talked about the Gospel...Faith, Repentance, Baptism, Gift of the Holy Ghost, and Enduring to the End, we invited her to come to church. She hasn't come in 30 years, so it was a big step to take. Well, yesterday, Kathy came to Sacrament Meeting. Wahoo!!! We introduced her to another woman who speaks Chinese and I think she had a really good experience. We will be teaching her again tomorrow. It was also the perfect sacrament meeting for her to come to. I'm so grateful that she took the step to come, and showed her faith to the Lord.

The next event leading to a really awesome Sabbath Day yesterday was a man named Ganos. Ganos is a man that we met on Wednesday on our way to our utställning at Odenplan in the city. We got on the bus, and at first, he was kind of flirting with us...in an old man kind of way. He joked about being 103 years old, and being sinful....etc. He is super funny. Well, as we visited with him on the bus, we gave him a brochure before we got off the bus, like we give everybody we talk to. He said he would read it. Maybe an hour later, he came to Odenplan where we were doing the utställning, and talked with us again. We tried to give him a Book of Mormon, but he said the brochure was enough. We kind of forgot about the whole experience until Saturday afternoon, when we had been calling many people to make appts. for this week without much success and guess who called us??? You're right...it was Ganos. He told us on the phone that he wanted to come to church and listen. He asked if we would be there, and we of course were like, "Ja...vi ska vara på Kammakargatan 5, klockan 10." Even then, we were wondering if he would really come. Sure enough, a couple minutes before ten, Ganos came in the door. He got to hear a wonderful sacrament meeting about Repentance, and then he stayed and we were able to teach him about the Restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. He had many questions about hoe we got the Book of Mormon, and he wanted to understand what we believed, and it was awesome. We will be teaching him on Thursday afternoon. He is our first investigator in this area.

Sister Swenson and myself both had the opportunity to introduce ourselves in the ward yesterday. It was awesome! As I bore my testimony of the truthfulness of this church, and the principles we are taught to live by, the Spirit was so strong. I have no doubt about it. I am enjoying this work because I know it's true. I wouldn't be here if I doubted that. I know this is the Savior Jesus Christ's Church. I know that He runs this church, and that He is aware of all of us. I am only beginning to see and feel the love God has for all of His children as I get to know people and help them realize that love. I get the opportunity to love them as well - as a representative of the Savior. What an honor.

I am happy! I am healthy. We walk a lot, we eat well, and I am trying to take good care of myself. The Lord is taking care of my back. I know I am being blessed while I am in His service.

OK...now a few of the wonderful things I love about Sweden:

Lingonberries are rockin' berries in jam. They have a little tart taste to them, but they are SO good.

ALL the fresh fruit they have here. It's so good, and fresh. Sometimes we find cherry trees on the side of the road we can just eat cheeries right off of.

The water everywhere. There are beautiful bridges, and buildings, and it's just beautiful! I love it here. I love how green it is also. We get rain here all the time...which keeps it wonderfully green. I just think this land is becoming one of my favorites!!!

Anyway, I hope you all have a wonderful week. I look forward to hearing from all of you. I love to hear news from home. I pray for you all. Always remember how much The Savior loves you, and wants you to be happy!

Love,

Sister Suzanne Wood

P. S. Svensk ord av dagen är....SKÖNT.....meaning AWESOME. I just like that word, and I use it a lot. Jag hoppas er har en skönt vecka!

Be Thou Humble... (Monday, July 20)

2009-07-27T12:11:00.000-07:00

Dear Family,

All I can say is that this has been an incredibly crazy, stressful week. I am hanging in there. I sometimes want to just sit down and cry, and then I instead say a prayer in the hopes that I don't freak out my NEW GREENIE becuase her TRAINER is having a melt down. I know the Lord has prepared me for this call. I know that all will be well. I know that I can rely on the Savior because he knows the stress, the anxiety, and everything else I am feeling right now. But I can't help but feel a little of the "natural man" in me giving me the little bit of anxiousness I have.

The rest of the week after Wednesday has been a whirlwind. Sister Väätti and I got everything packed up and cleaned in the apt. on Wednesday and then had dinner with a member. As it turns out, there are no missionaries now in Norrköping. It's too bad, and it was a little hard for me to accept at first because we had begun to have such success there, but I accept it better now that I need to be here for very specific purposes.

Thursday morning we were up early to catch the train to Stockholm. It was sad to spend the last time with Sister Väätti. I really do miss her. She was a good example to me, and taught me so much, and we truly became great friends. She is home safe now and living her own life again. In Stockholm, I went to a training meeting for trainers and then picked up my greenie....and now I will tell you all a little bit about her.

My new companions name is Sister Swenson. She is from Logan, UT, comes from a family of 7 kids. She went to BYU for 3 years before her mission studying Physiology and Dance. She is super awesome, her Swedish is good for a new missionary, she is brave and talks to everybody. We have a lot of fun together! I am so excited to get to spend this time with her. We are getting to know Stockholm, and relying completely on the Lord to help us in this new area with only our little bit of experience. My language continues to improve as Sis. Swenson asks me many questions I don't know the answer to. We look a lot of words up everyday and it is helping me to increase my vocab. all the time! Anyway, Sis. Swenson is very ambitious and has many ideas and we will try everything we can to invite people to come unto Christ which we know is what brings true joy and happiness in this life and in the life to come.

After we got into our apt. on Thursday, we had a teach that evening with a woman named Kathey, who is a member of the church who hasn't been active for 30 years. She served a mission in Taiwan in the 1970's, then moved to Sweden and completely lost contact with the church. We are helping to realize her faith again, and helping her to remember the blessings of the Gospel in her life. We are meeting her again tomorrow. She is humble, and so kind, and I truly hope that we can help her come back to church and receive the blessings that are in store for her.

Friday, we did planning, and unpacked our bags, and got to know eachother a little better. Our awesome Zone Leaders also came into Stockholm from their area to help us get acquainted with the area a little bit, and to show us how to get to church etc. We contacted, tracted, and had some success on the streets of this HUGE city!

Saturday, we went and did and utställning...in English I think it's like a table...or display and we set out posters on a table and then there were 6 of us missionaries contacting in the area and we got several numbers from that. Not to mention...Sis. Swenson is very musical. She brought her viola with her to Sweden. It's awesome. She played her Viola and I sang while we were contacting, and it was interesting that it really did attract a few more people to the table. I know it's true that good music invites the Spirit and softens the hearts of those we will meet and teach. Other than that, we were out contacting, and calling many people in the Area Book to try and make appts. for this week.

There was not a whole lot to start with here in the area for right now. We only have one or two investigators, and not very much else going on. We know we need to find those people who have been searching for the gospel, and we have met some very sincere people in our travels.

Yesterday, we went to church, and met the ward. We met the Mission Leader of the ward who is actually American. He's from Colorado, but served his mission here and is now working for the Dept. of State in the Embassy here in Sweden for the next 2 yrs. He is awesome, and I think he really does want to help us have success in this area. The members are super cool, and it will be really nice to get to know them better and there are many young single adults who are willing to help us with teaches, so that is a very nice thing. We then went out to Lidingö, one of the islands of the main land where one of our investigators lives. Her name is Meeri, and we wanted to stop by there and meet her. She doesn't have a phone which makes it really hard to set up appts. and such. She is a very kind lady from Finland. We had a very nice visit, but didn't really get anywhere with why she won't get baptized. She has had all the lessons and accepts the Book of Mormon as Gods word. We continue to try a little longer to help her realize the importance and necessity of being baptized in this church. It goes back to authority from God. What a blessing the Priesthood is!

I probably sound really scattered right now. I am really scattered right now. My thoughts go in every directions imaginable...from how do we get there, to how can we best use our time, to who do we NEED to talk to, to how can we help them...to how can I help Sis. Swenson in her first transfer...etc. As you call can see, I am a little crazy at the moment. I know the Lord will help me, and that is why I can keep going. I am grateful for the knowledge I have that I don't need to do this work alone. I would already be home if I was not being supported every step of the way by my Savior. I know we will have success here as we put all of our trust in Him, and listen to the promptings we receive as we talk to the people in this wonderful country.

I hope you have all had a great week. I hope this didn't come across as a negative email. I am still happy I am serving, and glad that I am here. I know this is the place I need to be. I know there are people I will meet that needed to meet ME. I am grateful for the prayers and thoughts in my behalf. I need them. :) Know that I pray for all of you, and your happiness. I hope that this week is a good one. I always look forward to hearing from all of you.

Love,

Sister Suzanne Wood

P.S. Swedish word for the week will be...TROENDE....that being in English...FAITHFUL. I hope we can all strive to be more faithful today than we were yesterday, and more faithful than we were today. I was reading in Matthew this morning, and Christ says if we have only as much faith as a mustard seed, that we can remove a mountain or do whatever other thing we need to do. I pray I can continue to show my faith. We show our faith to Him by our actions. I hope we never forget that!